Love in the Spring
by Snowdrop2018
Summary: After Edward leaves and Jacob imprints on one of Bella's friends from Forks. Bella decides to explore other options. Will the Pack and the Cullens defeat Victoria once and for all, while new romances blossoms? Set during the last part of NM.
1. The Beginning

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This is my very first story on this site ever! I need some help with the title. If anyone have a suggestion send me a PM. Oh and I hope, I have caught all typos with the help of my beta. My first language isn't English, so bear with me if it's not perfect in regards to spelling or grammatical errors. **

**Thursday 23rd March 2006**

Bella was sitting alone at lunch. She still didn't sit with Angela and her other friends from Forks High during lunch even though she had started to talk to them. She started to think about her life and the movements you go through life like there are certain dates that are important in one's life; like your birthday, the first step, the first word, the day you get your driver's license, the first kiss and of course the first time she fell in love. She contemplated what dates that had made the biggest impact on her life as she could remember was the first time she fell in love. It wasn't because they had dated a long time; no it was all the events that surrounded them. She didn't like to talk about it or why he had left town in a hurry. She still couldn't say HIS name out loud after six months and the called the event leading up to his departure "the incident". After three months completely isolated from everyone she started to come back to life with the help of Jacob Black. Her childhood friend she always played with when she visited her father, Charlie in Forks for a month every summer until she was 15 when Charlie and Billy were fishing. Jake and his father were part of the local Tribe, the Quileute people. Over the next month her friendship with Jake blossomed and they were almost attached at the hip. It lasted until Jake disappeared from her life, once again she was alone. Her worst nightmare came true when she found out her best friend was the mortal enemy of HIM and HIS family. Jake and the some of the boys from La Push were shapeshifters and THEY were vampires. She had felt so depressed and lonely for three months. When they left her it had really broken her.

Over Spring Break she had gotten more information about the shapeshifters and in return she told them about the things she knew about the Cullens plus she told Jake about the real reason to why THEY had left. Jake had accepted she fact she didn't like to explore more of her story with THEM because it still hurt too much to think of THEM. She told them about Victoria's vendetta against her.

Bella was pulled from her thoughts when the bell signaled lunch was over. She hurried off to class.

She couldn't wait until school was over. She and Jake had planned on doing their homework together and maybe if there was time to ride the motorcycles they had built in January. The pouring rain however had to stop if they were going to do that. She simply loved how much she was in control when riding the motorcycle. It gave a freedom she couldn't and wouldn't obtain from just driving her old beat up truck. The thing was they had to sneak around because they both knew Charlie wouldn't be very happy with the fact his only daughter owned a motorcycle but no license – and he was Chief of Police in Forks. They had managed to keep it from him so far.

The classes dragged on and she almost ran out when the bell rang. Angela caught up with her when she was descending the stairs from the main building to the parking lot. They sought shelter from the pouring rain under the porch roof while they chit chatted. They both waited for their respective rides. Angela's boyfriend, Ben had gone to a doctor's appointment for the yearly check-up and had promised to come pick her after school. Bella waited for Jake to arrive. Jake pulled up and Bella asked Angela if she wanted to meet the person who had helped through the worst storm. Angela agreed and they ran through the rain to his car. Bella tapped on the window and he rolled it down.

Bella gave him a smile and said, "Jake, this is Angela. She is a good friend of mine"

Jake got out of the car. He offered Angela his hand and she took it. When they touched it was like an electric current hit them much like the one that had hit her and HIM Bella thought. There was an awkward silence and both Jake and Bella knew what this meant. He had imprinted on Angela. They were all pulled out of their thoughts when they heard a honk! Ben had arrived to pick up Angela. Angela and Jake quickly pulled their hands to themselves. It couldn't have lasted more than a minute or so but time had almost been standing still until now. Bella sought out Jake's eyes and nodded understanding. Inside her heart broke a little and thought just as she could depend on someone again the carpet was pulled from under her. It had really thrown her for a loop when she realized Jake had imprinted on Angela.

She knew what the score was; she was no longer the most important girl in Jake's life. They heard Ben honk one more time and that's when she sprang into action.

In a rushed voice to Jake, she said, "Why don't you take Angela home? And she continued to Angela, "Let me deal with Ben! Now go before you catch a cold or something." They obeyed her orders without another word; both wanted to be with the other. After they had sped off towards God knows where, Bella turned around and walked towards Ben. She opened the car door and got in.

"Will you drive me home?" Bella asked.

He just looked dumbfounded and could only nod. There was an awkward silence in the car and only the sound from the windshield wiper was heard. Bella thought if it was possible the rain had upped its amount of water. They kept glancing sideways at each other. When it came down to it, they really didn't know each other at all. Just when he pulled up in front of her house she decided to break the ice.

"Listen, I can't tell you what just happened. And if I could it wouldn't be my secret to spill. However I do know Jake, and he would never heard anyone intentionally! I think you should talk to Angela. That's just my advice."

She got out of the car without waiting for a response. She hurried inside and closed the door. She leaned against it for a few minutes without moving an inch or putting down her school back. She started an inner chant and repeated it over and over again, "Breathe in, breathe out…" After ten minutes she was calm enough to move and find a towel. Her thoughts were all jumble together and she couldn't make head or tail it all and a lot of "what if…" questions kept popping up. The Pack had replaced THEM as her family. Almost everyone had taken a liking to her from the beginning, Quil, Embry and Seth were the ones she talked most with and she had spent a lot of time with Emily in her kitchen. Emily was the imprint of Sam, the Alpha of the Pack. The only two who were still weary of her knowledge was Paul and Leah. Coincidently Leah and Seth were siblings. With every minute that went by Bella was happy that Charlie wasn't home. Billy and Charlie had more or less pushed her Jake towards each other with the hope of them becoming a couple and eventually get married. It was their dreams, not Bella's. She knew Jake had a crush on her, but she couldn't help see him as the little brother she never got.

Her phone rang and she took it without looking at the caller ID. Not many had her number anyway. It was Charlie and he told he was working late. She decided she wanted to do her homework now in case Jake came by later. It was hard to concentrate and she finally shut the book. She heard Charlie a little while later come in and after she had looked into a mirror and come to the conclusion she looked okay she walked down. Charlie looked up from the television when he heard her come downstairs.

They ate in silence because neither was a big talker. So it came as a surprise for Bella when Charlie asked, "How was your day?"

He studied her expression while he waited for an answer and it wasn't a surprise when he couldn't read her. He had always been good at reading people, just not his only daughter. Which he thought was ironic in regards to his profession as the Chief of Police in Forks. He had thoroughly taken Bella by surprise with his question.

He never asked her that! She was dumfounded and it took some time to let his words sink in and when they did she too drew in a deep breathe. After sitting a while in complete silence she finally answered him. She didn't know whether to start by saying "Dad" or "Charlie". She had called him Charlie since she first arrived in Forks, but now it seemed more – appropriate (for a lack of better term she thought) to call him dad. And she went with the first option for the first time in a long time.

"Dad, my day was fine, though Jake and I canceled our time together this afternoon. Something came up at his end. Before you jump to any conclusions; we haven't had a fight. I know you are worried about my isolation since HE left. No, it won't end with me isolated from the rest of the world. I feel better than I have done in a long time and I got revelation during the time when I didn't see Jake at all. My conclusion is I'm much too vulnerable if my world only revolves around one person. It's better now, I promise. I even talk to Lauren in school and Leah in La Push."

Now it was Charlie's turn to look completely taken off guard. He had not expected that answer and inside he was proud of Bella to lay it all out. He knew there had to be more however he didn't want to push for more answers because he was more than content with what she had said.

Instead he said in gruff voice, "Good, that's all I want to hear" and in a softer voice he added, "If you are happy, then I'm happy."

He offered her a smile and with that they ate the rest of the pizza in silence. Charlie had barely swallowed the last piece before he retreated to the living room. Bella was left with the dishes which she was not sad to do. She said an early goodnight to Charlie and tried to figure what she should do. Her thoughts were still going a mile in a minute and she didn't know when to get some answers from Jake or the Pack in general.

She decided she would take a shower in a futile attempt to calm her nerves and thoughts. She thoroughly dreaded the morrow; she would have to face a confused Angela and a heartbroken Ben, both with questions. The warm water soothed her in more ways she would ever know. She thought it was the time she had called HIM by his name. Maybe her fragile heart was in the process of being mended again. It didn't hurt that much to think of him like it used to. She turned off the water and dried herself with a towel. Bella had barely gotten her pajamas on when she heard a tap on the window. Bella looked out and saw Jacob standing beneath the window. She quickly went over and opened it, then stood back as he jumped into the room. They heard Charlie come up the stairs and ten minutes later they heard a snoring coming from his room. She pointed to her bed and he sat down. Bella opted for the rocking chair.

They sat in silence for a while before Bella cleared her throat, "Where does this leave us? More importantly where does it leave me in relations to the pack in La Push? Am I still welcome?"

Jake took a deep breath and said, "Back up a little bit and let me explain. Yes you are still welcome in La Push, more importantly I'm still your friend despite me imprinting on Angela. The others are just happy we didn't take things to the next level. No one wants to relive what happened between Sam, Emily and Leah. And we will look out for you and Charlie with that vampire still on the loose."

Bella looked relived at this and offered him a small smile. There was another matter Bella was curious about, she bit her lip not sure how to ask.

Jake saved her this trouble and continued, "Angela knows most of the stuff. We are holding a bonfire on Saturday where she will be told all the legends you heard and we will gently tell her about the imprinting stuff. I however do think she'll seek you out tomorrow after breaking up with her boyfriend."

She let a hand go through her hair and looked thoughtful for a minute and then asked, "Then I suppose she doesn't know about the Cullens?" A curt nod from Jake confirmed it. Bella continued, "But by Saturday she will?"

Another nod came and Bella yawned. "It's getting late. I should get some sleep."

Jake nodded and got up from the bed. Before jumping out he turned to her and said, "I'm sorry, but I have to do this"

He dipped his head towards hers and pulled her closer. They closed their eyes and their lips met. The kiss was short; it didn't give her the chills, she didn't see any fireworks or she hear any violins play in the background, she felt nothing at all. Actually she found it very satisfying and apparently he didn't feel anything either. The only thing she felt was awkward. With one last look at Bella he jumped out of her room.

After his visit Bella was even more certain she would try becoming better friends with Angela and that she deserved to find love as well. The sooner she could come to terms with the fact that HE didn't return, the sooner she could move on. She would try and make a new start tomorrow. With that thought she fell into a deep sleep.


	2. New Day Dawning

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Oh I hope, I have caught all typos with the help of my beta, Hermione Fowl. If you want to make me extremely happy, then leave a review. I know this is uphill since Mike isn't a popular character.  
**

**Friday 24th March 2006**

Bella woke to another cloudy, rainy day. She slowly opened her eyes and suppressed a yawn while she thought of the previous day. It hadn't been a dream and she was now ready to move on. She went through her morning routines and went into the kitchen to get something to eat. Charlie had already left for work. He had written a note that told her he had to work late and therefore wouldn't be home for dinner. She let out a sigh and poured some orange juice into a class. She ate her breakfast standing while looking out the window. Sometimes she dreamed of returning to live with her mother in Jacksonville where it was sunny and warm compared to Forks. But oddly enough she had started to feel at home with Charlie – or Dad she corrected herself. Sure she was still afraid of Victoria, but she had been pushed in the background. It was time to move on. She couldn't stand being in this limbo and Jake imprinting had made it a lot easier for her. Now she didn't have to turn him down. She looked at her clock and she knew she would have to leave if she wanted to make it to school before the last bell. Bella grabbed her keys, school bag and a jacket.

Angela was waiting for her on the school steps. Bella sighed and went up to her. Angela opened her mouth to speak but Bella brushed her off and told they would talk later at lunch. Angela nodded in relief. She hurried off to her locker to drop off the books she wouldn't need before lunch. She had barely closed the locker before she was cornered by Ben. Bella bit her lower lip and looked at the ground.

She drew in a deep breath and bought some extra time before he could speak, "Like I told you yesterday, I don't have any answers for you I barely know what's going on between her and Jake. By the look on your face I can tell it's over between you and her, right?"

He just gave her a sad smile.

She continued, "Please don't make me get involved in whatever is going on. And I'm really sorry that you guys broke up. You seemed kind of perfect together".

With that Bella left him standing looking like a sad lost puppy.

Bella scanned the room for an empty seat; she was running late because of the conversation with Ben. She finally found a seat right in the middle next to Mike. It was either taking that or sitting next to Eric and if she forced to choose she would rather sit next to Mike. Her head was in the clouds trying to figure out what to say to Angela at lunch she didn't notice they were partnered up for an English project that were due in a week, she also hadn't heard that her partner was Mike. She came back to reality when the teacher called her name.

"Bella, are you listening?"

Bella sported a blush that was a deep shade of red and managed to nod while hoping the teacher wouldn't ask her to repeat it. However the teacher was satisfied and she was immensely relieved. The teacher turned his back to the class, Bella quickly wrote something down on a piece paper and passed it to Mike. He gave her some keywords and told her he would explain later at work. It was an understatement Bella thought the day dragged on and it seemed like an eternity before lunch rolled around. Mike caught up with her on the way to the cafeteria and he agreed he would give her a brush up about the English project later at work. Bella scanned the room and met Angela's eyes. She was sitting in the far corner of the cafeteria and made a quick excuse to Mike, who just looked dumbfounded after her. Angela gestured to the chair across from hers and Bella sat her tray down. Neither knew what to take out however. Bella knew she couldn't offer Angela a full explanation. But she knew she would have to start. She looked around and made sure there wasn't anyone who could overhear their conversation.

When she was sure, she started, "I can't offer you much explanation about what happened yesterday afternoon. But I can tell you Jake is a great guy and I will always vouch for that. I have known him for a long time – and we started to reconnect after THEY left. With a pause she corrected herself: "Uh, when the Cullens left. Jake helped finding me. If HE – no sorry, if Ed- Edward was the darkness, Jake was the light. They are different as night and day."

Bella was relived over two things, one; her voice had remained calm and she had shown no real emotions when she had told Angela about her and Jacob's friendship. Two she had made progress by saying their names and it didn't hurt that much anymore. Maybe she was starting to move on – for real? She didn't know for sure, but she did cling to the hope.

Angela nodded.

"You won't find anyone who could treat you better than Jake. Just give him a chance and you'll see."

With that Bella got up and left Angela alone. Angela looked up and called for Bella. She turned around and Angela paused, "Thanks. He is taking me to La Push later today. Why don't you come after work and hang out with us?"

Bella shook her head and made an excuse – a lame excuse when she thought about it. She spend the rest of the lunch period in the library alone - reading. She had noticed how Mike had looked after her when she left the cafeteria but hadn't followed her. He had been sitting with Jessica, Lauren, Tyler and Eric who was comforting Ben.

Later that day when Bella arrived at Newton's Outfitters to work Mike had already arrived and was stocking the shelves. She changed her clothes and when she appeared from the back room had moved to the register. He was absentmindedly, turned the pages in a magazine and he looked up with a smile when he felt her beside him

"Soo, will you explain what the assignment is about?"

He closed the magazine and told her about the presentation they had to do.

"When should we work on it?"

Mike shrugged his shoulders and found their work schedules. "How about Thursday?"

"Yeah that would work for me, in the library at the school?"

Again he shrugged his shoulders in response and finally said, "Sure it works for me"

They shared a little smile across the store. It was the first genuine smile Bella had given anyone since the day before. Occasionally the bell rang and signaled costumers. It was a quiet day in the store since the rain was pouring down outside. However half an hour before closing time the bell over the door rang again. They both looked up and Bella was very surprised to see Embry and Quil come in. Nevertheless she signaled to Mike she would deal with them. She could feel Mike's eyes burn a hole in her back when she walked over to them. They were both very wet and in their signature shorts and with bare chest.

"What are you doing here? And please don't hug me!"

"Well…" Embry began.

Quil rudely cut him off and lowered his voice, "Jake thought it would be nice if you came to the bonfire this Saturday. Since you know, uh, you can explain the best about the Cullens to Angela. Please say you'll come!"

Bella felt dizzy and she was sure she looked white as a sheet. She managed to stammer she needed a class of water and then hastily retreated to the lunch room. Mike looked curious at her from across the store while he observed the situation. Both Embry and Quil looked unsure what to do, so they remained rooted to the place in the middle of the store while sending sideways glances to each other. After what must have felt like hours Bella returned with a more normal complexion.

"Tell Jake I'll be there. But I must stress I'm not doing it for him, I'm doing it for me – and maybe you know who? But why am I needed? You know about the Cullens true nature…"

She could see both of them looking relived with the thought of her positive attitude while she waited for an answer. She never got the answer right away because with two steps she was wrapped in a bear hug from Quil and he whispered in her ear: "Thanks for saving our hinds."

Bella squealed, "Quil! Put me down! Can't breathe!"

Quil complied with her request and she pouted, "Now I'm all soaked and there is still 15 min. till we close!"

He had the curtsy to at least look a little guilty. A smile played on Embry's lips before he turned to Quil and dragged him out of the store. However before walking out himself, Embry turned and said, "Sorry about him."

He hesitated and went back to her and lowered his voice, "I don't think we answered your question. Sam thought it would be good for Angela if you were there. She doesn't really know anyone except Jake. Besides he thought it was more appropriate that you told about the Cullens since you knew them. See you tomorrow"

When they left Mike looked at her with a frown and a questioning look. Bella was sorry she couldn't offer any good explanation to him and just shook her head in response.

"Well I suppose my mom won't mind letting you take off a little early."

Bella looked grateful and hurried to finish her task. 5 minutes later she was ready to leave. She passed him by the register, gave him a small smile before leaning over the counter and whispered, "Have a nice weekend, Mike. See you Monday!"

"Yeah you too". She almost didn't hear his response because she was already headed for the door.

Later that evening when she was standing in her shower; she unconsciously started to go through the guys she had met since coming to Forks in her head. It was ridiculously hard having five guys running after her. First there was Tyler and Eric; however they never really stood a chance with her and they both knew it. She was flattered when they asked her to the Spring Dance. She quickly disposed them into the friend zone.

Next there was Jacob and Edward. If Jacob was her sun then Edward was her moon. While Jacob was happy and had a positive way of looking at life, Edward was brooding and had wondered through a tiresome undead life. Edward treated her like a porcelain doll, Jacob didn't.

However now she had lost both her sun and moon. They had both come and gone so quickly although they had left a deep impression on her and she thought she had left an equally deep impression on them too. She had lost Jacob to her best friend, Edward had left her to protect her from his world. She started to wonder if she would ever meet someone who knew how to balance both sides. They represented life and death with Jacob growing old when he stopped phasing and the forever young Edward, frozen at the age of 17. Then she disposed Jacob into the friend zone and Edward into the back of her head.

The last guy was Mike. It was common knowledge in school he had been in love with her since he first laid eyes on her when she started at Forks High. She had been so entangled with Edward and later Jacob she had never given him the time of a day. He had tried to take her under his wings and help her out when she first moved to Forks. What had she done? Coldly refused when he asked her to the cinema – and called him a Labrador in her head. Another fact she couldn't deny was he had recommended her to his parents' for a job at his parents' store, and by proxy he was indirectly involved in her getting the job. Another thing she liked about him was actually he had a relatively uncomplicated life compared to Edward and Jacob. Maybe he was the perfect blend of light and darkness. It was a big plus they were partners in that project, which provided her the perfect opportunity to apologize to him. She desperately needed to give him an apology because she had been rather rude to him on many occasions and she wasn't proud of it.

Bella turned off the shower and got her pajamas. She heard a knock on the door and she went to opened it. Her Dad poked his head and said goodnight. He hesitated for a moment and then asked if she and Jacob had become friends again. Bella flashed him a smile and confirmed with a curt nod. Nothing more was to be said and he went to his room. She crawled under the covers and kind of regretted her promise about attending the bonfire.


	3. Apologies

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Oh I hope, I have caught all typos with the help of my beta, Hermione Fowl. If you want to make me extremely happy, then leave a review. I know this is uphill since Mike isn't a popular character.**

**Monday 27th March 2006**

Bella and Angela walked into the cafeteria together on Monday. It was a common agreement they needed to talk about what happened over the weekend, combined with the fact Angela wouldn't rub her presence in Ben's face. However he didn't seem concerned about that because he was already attached to Lauren's lips. Angela shot them a look before moving on. Bella found Mike's eyes and he mouthed, "What's going on?" Bella just shook her head and hurried after Angela to same table they had occupied the previous Friday at lunch. They huddled together and began to whisper in low voices while eating there food.

"I still can't wrap my head around what they told me at the bonfire! All the legends are true? I didn't want to believe."

Bella chuckled, "Neither did I – at least in the beginning – you know, about the Cullens. It kind of freaked me out."

Angela shook her head and took a bite of sandwich. She finished chewing and concluded: "Imprinting is weird."

"Yeah, I agree with you – whole heartily. Just look what happened between Sam, Leah and Emily. I'm just happy that Jake and I never took it to the next level" Bella said, sipping her water.

"Or the fact Quil imprinted on a two year old girl! Angela exclaimed and Bella just shuddered at that thought.

Angela continued, "I was just speculating of why Jake wanted you at the bonfire."

Bella looked confused at Angela, "He didn't tell you?"

Angela shook her head.

"Well I was there because I'm the only outsider who knows their secret. And because they felt uncomfortable explaining the Cullens true nature to you. I think I was your support system, so to speak..." Bella let the last statement hang in the air.

Angela looked thoughtful at the rest of the sandwich.

Bella noticed, "What?"

"Nothing…It's just Ben. It's bugging me. You know? I tried to explain the reason I had broken up with him yesterday without offering him the full explanation. It ended with me leaving crying my eyes out´" Angela mumbled.

"Oh" Bella's mouth formed a round O and was silent while trying to find the right words. She let her hand go through her hair.

"Well, you know Jake will be whatever you want right? It's you who have the power. You can tell him to be your friend, your boyfriend or something else. It's your decision."

Angela nodded. "Yes, I know…and by the way that is also weird."

Bella also agreed on that sentiment, but didn't respond instead she decided to change the subject slightly: "Well I have been thinking…I think it's time to move on. Ed-Edward isn't coming back."

Angela sent her an encouraging smile and gestured she should continue.

Bella drew a deep breath and mumbled, "Do you think Mike will accept an apology from me? I have treated him rather rude and insulted him in my head while calling him foul names. I'm not proud of it! But ever since Friday I have seen him in a different light. Maybe he is the one who can balance Edward and Jacob out. They are two extremes like I told you last Friday."

That revelation shook Angela to the core. She nearly choked on the water she had just drunk and it resulted in a minor fit followed by she became tongue-tied.

No one in the cafeteria noticed this except Bella.

Bella looked up, "What?"

Angela finally found her tongue, "I think he will accept it and no doubt he would like to hang out with you. Oh another bonus is it will make Jessica absolutely furious! I don't think you should wait until Thursday. Better to get if your chest"

"Right-"Bella's answer was cut short when the lunch bell signaled lunch was over.

They were so engrossed in their conversation during lunch they failed to notice the odd looks Jessica was shooting them, Lauren attached to Ben's lips, Tyler glaring jealously at Ben trying to pretend he didn't care and continue to talk to Eric and Mike who still wondered what was going on, and why Bella was being nice to him!

Bella thought about where the best place to talk to Mike would be. The school was out of the question, likewise were all other public places in Forks if she wanted to keep it from the rumor mill Forks High was clouded in. That left Newton's Outfitters. She knew he had to work after school and she knew when he got off. She decided it was the best place. All she had to was wait and be patience.

The afternoon dragged and she was pacing around in the house just waiting for until it was 4:15 pm. She was so nervous and again the "what if" questions came to the surface. He would be off 4:45 and she wouldn't take the risk missing him by pure accident. When time was 4:30 she was standing next to his Suburban. She hadn't been there more than five minutes when he walked out of the door, so her gut feeling had been right. Inside her head she started chanting, "Breathe in, breathe out…"

He looked surprised and managed to say, "Bella? What are you doing here? What's going on?"

She cleared her throat and thought, "here goes nothing", "I owe you an apology for how I, uh, I treated you. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to string you along for the strange events that have taken place since I arrived in Forks last January. Another thing, I-I don't think I ever said; thank you for what you have done for me – especially in P.E. and with my job. I, uh, would like to get to know you, could we perhaps start over? Maybe sometime get something to eat?"

He didn't respond and she felt her stomach drop. What if he didn't want to start over? What if he didn't forgive her? What if…? She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard her name being called and saw a hand waving in front of her

"Soo let me get this straight. Are you asking me out?" He paused and then continued: "For real? Last time you asked me to do something I ended up being some sort of a third wheel!"

"Yeah I'm serious. No more contrived coincidences. No more hiding behind a group thing. Just you and me alone"

The silence was thick while he thought about what she had said. She just thanked the Gods that it wasn't raining. So she just waited for his answer while her nerves were getting the better of her. And the wait? It was all worth it! A stone fell from her heart and the knots in her stomach was untied when she heard: "I accept your apology and yes we can start over. Starting with our English project on Thursday"

A spur of the moment got her to ask if he was expected at home. She was never impulsive. She always thought of everything and she always would like to know the outcome of what she was doing, so the question came as a surprise even to her.

He shook his head and leaned closer to her before saying, "You know my dad is on a business trip and my mom is having her monthly dinner with Mrs. Stanley and Mrs. Mallory after she closes the store."

"Well Charlie is working late – yet again. I'm not expected at home either. Maybe get something to eat, sometime? You know going as friends that are getting to know each other."

He offered her a smile and nodded, "Where should we go? I'm assuming you waited for me here because you don't want Jessica and by proxy the rest of Forks to know?" '

They both knew Jessica Stanley and Lauren Mallory were the biggest contributors to the rumor mill in Forks. They must have inherited this trait by their mothers! Like Mrs. Mallory and Mrs. Stanley, Mike's mom, Mrs. Newton was almost as bad as the two others. Everything that smelled of scandal, they always managed to find out. It gave them power and a place at the top of the hierarchy at Forks High. Neither was too posh to blackmail other students as payment for them to keep quiet. Bella knew how much she hated being in center of gossip. She had frequently been that during her time with Edward and during her "zombie" period she had dubbed the three months between Edward leaving and after Christmas. Now she had basically become a social outcast. She had never been a social piranha however it had brightened since January,

She nodded looking thoughtful.

"How about ordering a pizza? The weather isn't that bad and if we go change into something warmer we can find a tree log or something to sit on?"

Mike just stared at her taken aback at her suggestion. "I never would have taken you for a girl who liked the outdoor!"

She just shrugged her shoulders. "Meet you here in an hour? We can leave one of the cars here – and drive together. Will you pick up the pizza?"

With a surprised look on his face, he could only agree to both things.

When Bella looked at that evening something in her relationship with Mike changed. He was actually caring and funny. If you had asked Bella a year ago she wouldn't have thought these thoughts. Sure it had been awkward for the first 10 minutes, and then their conversation had flowed flawlessly. The sore subject about the Cullens wasn't touched at all, it still hurt a little and she wasn't ready to tell Mike about them. Instead they discussed his parents' expectations to him. His road after graduation was almost set in stone. Off to business school, and then take over the family business when his parents' reached the retirement age. However it wasn't what he wanted, he had dreams of going becoming a lawyer and leave the small town life, Forks could offer. In return Bella told him about her past before coming to live with Charlie. She told him about her mom, Renee and her crazy antics. They had a good time and by the time he drove her back to the store in his car they agreed it had been a great evening and maybe something they could repeat. She had felt comfortable in enough to give him a hug before getting into her truck. They had agreed to keep up their "normal" façade towards each other in public to avoid rumors.

Bella beat Charlie home by 15 minutes and that fact brightened an already great evening. So when Charlie arrived home and saw his only daughter in this mood, he was too stunned to say anything at all. He just gave her a nod and a smile. Shortly after she took her leave and said goodnight to Charlie.


	4. The English Assignment

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. Well reviews is still appreciated. However I know it's uphill because Mike isn't the most popular guy in the "Twilight" fandom. Next chapter should be up sometime this week - my Beta just need to find time to edit it. Do not fret, I have the next chapters written as well.  
**

**Friday 31st March 2006**

Over the past few days Bella and Mike had texted more than they had ever done before. It was probably the effect that they had to keep their budding friendship secret. She had woken up with a stomach ache because they hadn't prepared their project at all! Then she thought she probably wasn't the only one with a stomach ache. In fact 7 other students from that particular English class would show up without their projects. It made her feel a little better. It had been an absolute disaster. Actually she should have known how it would end as soon as she sat foot in the library!

She went through her routines while she thought about the events that happened the day before.

* * *

_Coincidently all pairs had agreed to work on the project Thursday afternoon in the library. After the last bell had rung, they had all made it to the library separately or in pairs. She stopped dead in her tracks about this revelation and first thing she thought was, "Oh no! This can't be good!" Even though they had been seated in pairs at different tables, the air was thick. Jessica soon picked up on the vibes between Mike and Bella, and retaliated by flirting with Tyler. Who actually didn't mind it because he was being eaten up by the little green monster in his stomach. He was in love with Lauren who had been attached to Ben's lips since Angela and he broke up. Ben had hoped that by going out with Lauren he would make Angela jealous. Too bad neither Ben nor Jessica succeeded in their projects because neither Angela nor Mike cared. It was quite the circus, Bella thought. Almost as bad as the relations the Pack had or the Cullens. Everyone was entangled in this weird love-thingy! Even Eric who was desperately in love with Angela and had been contempt with her being happy with Ben, then they broke up and he had hoped she would ask him out. However he was passed over in favor of that native kid. It was Jessica who had started the argument. She was just happy that there wasn't anyone else in library – not even the Librarian because the air had been full of foul words and accusations. _

"_What's going on between you two? You have been sending each other smiles when you thought no one was looking." Jessica's shrill voice cut through the air. _

_Bella and Mike looked at each other and tried to ignore her, but Jessica was persistent and repeated her question. Like it was common knowledge in school that Mike liked Bella, it was also common knowledge that Jessica was in love with Mike – and she had taken a liking to Edward as well. It had been tough for to swallow that both the guys she liked preferred another girl over her. She had always lived by the motto: "What I want, I always get!" She was a sore loser. _

_Mike finally replied, "Nothing is going on between us. We work together and therefore it might be natural to talk about other things than school or you. And besides we are over. I know we have been on and off for a while. Now it's really over." _

_Jessica looked gob smacked at his words and started to say something, but was rudely cut off by Lauren who finally had gotten her lips back from Ben. _

"_You actually should show some respect to Jessica." _

_Mike let her words sink in and was prevented from replying by Bella. Who thought it was appropriate to say something. _

"_Lauren why are you with Ben? You know he is only using you to get Angela back, right? _

"_Of cause I know" Lauren snarled and continued, "It's actually beneficial for both of us." _

_Now Tyler cut in, "Why is it beneficial for you?" _

_Lauren didn't answer him and he repeated his question. Lauren still refused to answer. _

_Angela looked at her watch and stood up, "I have to go", addressing Tyler, "I'm soo sorry that we don't have anything to turn in tomorrow." _

_Tyler just shook his head and walked over to Jessica. "Will you go and get something to eat?" _

_Jessica was shooting daggers at Mike and then accepted with a smile. _

_Mike just shook his head and asked Bella if they should call it a day. She just nodded. _

_Eric was just confused of what was happening and just went with the flow. They all left at the same time not looking at each other. _

_They barely made it out when Angela tried to make a beeline for Jake, who was waiting for her. She desperately wanted to escape and Bella couldn't help but feel her fight or flight kick in as well. However she stood rooted to her place next to Mike. Bella kept shooting warning glances at Jake because she understood his situation. Everyone knew the confrontation between Ben and Angela was in the melting pot it was just a question when the whole thing would boil over. Ben let go of Lauren's hand and stepped forward. _

"_Angela, I want the real reason for why you broke off with me, and now is completely attached to him" Ben looked at Jacob with disgust. _

_Angela's hands' was pressed so hard together that her knuckles turned white and she tried to keep her voice very calm, she said, without missing a beat, "Jake and I are together. Feel free to look the other way if you can't deal with it." _

_Ben took a step closer and then everything happened so fast. Angela was pushed behind Jake and his wolf was taking over. Bella knew she had to do damage control because Angela couldn't do anything from behind Jake. She took a step forward to Ben and managed to keep her cool. The others were staring at them like they had seen a ghost. _

"_Ben, why don't you take me home?" _

_Ben kept his eyes on Jake and Angela and snarled, "No! Not before I get to talk to Angela alone!"_

_Before Bella could say anything Jake spoke, "You'll never get to talk to her again." With that Angela managed to drag him away before he could pour out more threats against Ben. _

_Bella gently pulled Ben to her truck. Mike looked questioningly at her, again she cursed inwardly that she couldn't tell him the truth about the Pack. She drove him home in silence; he was leaning against the car window and sighed loudly. _

"_You know, I thought we were going to last forever. I never thought it would end like this. I love her so much." _

_Bella offered him a smile and nodded in understanding. _

"_. Get over Angela; she is never going to look at you again if you continue this. Isn't it better to have her as a friend then not having her in your life at all?" _

_Ben didn't answer, but got out of the car. He was heartbroken and Bella couldn't help but feel sorry for him. _

_Bella texted Mike, letting him know Ben probably needed a friend more than ever. Mike had agreed to gather Tyler and Eric. They would go over and be his friends._

* * *

Bella was pulled from her thoughts when the bell rang indicating her English class was in session and the atmosphere was gloomy. It came as a surprise for the three girls when the boys handed in their respective English projects to the teacher. Bella sent Mike a grateful smile because she couldn't afford to miss handing in the assignment in the end. Her grades had slipped during the first three month of the school year. Now she was working hard on making up the handing in assignments. She had been to a meeting at the school with the student advisor, the principal of Forks High and her Dad at the end of February where it was determined she could make up for lost classes and assignments. This would mean she could graduate with the rest of the senior class and did not need summer school. Both Bella and Charlie had been so relived about this, and she had been told they only bended the rules a little because she had gotten good grades at her old school and in the second half of junior year at Forks High.

Lunch rolled around and Bella stood waiting for Mike at his locker. The hallway was almost empty when he came everyone had hurried towards the cafeteria.

"I guess I should say thanks?"

Mike chuckled: "Well, that's not really necessary."

"Yeah it is!" came Bella's response promptly

"If you insist…I only can say you're welcome"

Bella looked thoughtful for a moment, "I want to make it up to you because you really saved me failing my agreement with the principal. That's the least I can do. Whatever you want to do, we can do next week after school"

Mike looked confused at her. "Are you serious?"

Bella simply nodded.

He closed his locker and looked at Bella and said, "Okay, I'll think about it over the weekend and get back to you with an answer. Now, let's go have some lunch while wishing we were somewhere else!"

She offered him a smile in response and they began to make their way towards the cafeteria. They entered and both scanned the room. They were sitting in uncomfortable silence. Bella and Mike sat down, her next to Angela and he next Tyler across from them.

Bella was in the middle of cooking dinner when Charlie came in. He hung his jacket and put his gun away before making his way towards the kitchen to get a beer.

"Dinner should be ready in 15 minutes" Bella informed him.

Charlie nodded and asked, "How was your day?"

Bella wasn't that surprised anymore by his questions about her day nor was he about hers. They had come to an understanding since their conversation a week ago; they still knew when not to meddle in each other's business.

"It was weird" Bella admitted but not offering any further explanations.

Charlie let it go and instead continued, "Billy called today. He invited us for lunch tomorrow. I said yes for the both of us hoping you didn't have work"

Bella shook her head before she turned away to take the chicken out of the oven.

"Yeah, dinner is finished. Come sit down" Bella prodded him and closed the conversation. He complied and sat down.

They ate in silence as usual and parted ways afterwards.

She caught up on some of her missing assignments. Without many disturbances in her life she had almost caught up with the rest of her class. _Bella never actually thought much of Victoria or her threats anymore. Mostly because she felt safe with the pack running patrols – and one was always waiting in the tree line when the moon rose. She had been so happy when Jake told her she could continue coming to La Push and see some of the people she cared most about in the world. It was almost too quiet and Bella could guess what was coming. She turned off the computer and made her way to the rocking chair. It was a starry night and there was a new moon on the rise. Bella wondered if the rest of the Pack would imprint, according to Jake it was supposed to be rare, but now four out of the nine wolves had imprinted. She was kind of happy that no one had imprinted on her. She couldn't imagine to not having a say in who she wanted to be with and eventually have children with. Jake had mentioned it with the word "birthing machine". She silently agreed with him._ She looked at her watch. It was late; she should probably get some sleep. Her phone buzzed. Bella found it and saw it was from Mike.

**Hey Bella, about what you said earlier today; I have decided to put my head on the line and suggest we go to Port Angeles. We can always figure out what to do when we get there and what date. Sweet dreams :)** **– Mike**

Bella smiled to herself, wrote a quick reply before turning her phone off. She had just made plans to go on a real date with Mike Newton. _Heaven help her_ she thought with a goofy smile on her face.


	5. A Perfect Week

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and odd sentence structures are my own. New and improved chapter. I'm so sorry for not being able to update sooner.  
**

**Saturday 14th April 2006**

Bella sat in her favorite spot looking out of the window. She never understood why Forks was surrounded by heavy clouds day in and day out. At least today it wasn't raining, she thought. She was happy that didn't have any plans today. This gave her some time to reflect on the past week.

She and Mike had used work as an excuse to see each other every day after school which had only fueled Jessica's desire to know what was going on between them. However her and Tyler had arrived Monday morning hand in hand while Lauren and Ben still was attached to each other lips and hips. Eric had finally stepped up his game to win Angela over to no avail; she hadn't given him the time of day because she was very happy with Jake. No one seemed to accomplish what they wanted, to their obvious frustrations! Mike and Bella had shaken their heads at the other six and shared more than one laugh over it during the week.

Bella smiled to herself at these thoughts and for once she didn't have fight getting a goofy expression on her face whenever thinking of her date with Mike last Monday. She knew, Mike had the same troubles, but neither wanted to push their luck and just enjoy getting to know each other without having Jessica or Lauren breathing down their nicks. However right know she was in confines of her room and she allowed the goofy smile to come out when she started to sink down in her thoughts once again.

They had a wonderful time in Port Angeles. They skipped the cinema opting to look at the different stores instead, which in turn made sure they could talk. Being in the cinema was cozy and nice, but not for a date, they had agreed on while contemplating what to do. She dragged him off to the book store and in return he took her to his favorite music store. Bella had encouraged Mike to pick out some books and read them. In return Bella had to rethink her previous statement about not liking music. She came to the conclusion that Mike actually had a very nice taste in music. Bella had put her foot down when he suggested they ate dinner at Bella Italia. First he looked very confused and then it apparently dawned to him that Edward might have taken her there. Instead they found a nice little Chinese restaurant in a less populated part of town. It had been very romantic and they had shared a kiss or two. If the kiss with Jake had been uncomfortable and the kiss with Edward had been tender, then the kiss she had shared with Mike made her see stars and hear violins playing in the background. It kind of reminded her off how it was with Edward in the beginning and at the same time she felt completely different. He wasn't careful like Edward or pushing her boundaries like Jake. It had simply been perfect.

When Bella thought about it, she understood why Mrs. Newton had started to become suspicious of why both she and Mike hung around "Newton's Outfitters", when they actually didn't had to be there. To make their cover more believable Mike talked his mother into upping his and Bella's' hours at Newton's Outfitters until prom. Mrs. Newton reacted how they had anticipated; she was more than happy to comply to his request. It was no secret that Mr. and Mrs. Newton wished their only son would take an interest in the store and how to run it. Bella knew from her many conversations with Mike that he really didn't have an interest in running the store, and only worked there to make his parents happy and because it was expected of him to help out wherever he could. She knew he'd rather work somewhere else, have more time to practice and to see his friends. What Mrs. Newton's reasoning for upping Bella's hours there were no definite explanation, however both Mike and Bella had come to the conclusion that his mother had figured it wouldn't hurt to be in the Chief's good graces if anything ever happened at the store like a robbery and she couldn't deny that Bella was a good working capacity. Now they had a proper excuse for seeing each other and no one could really say anything different. Not even Jessica or anyone else for that matter.

However Charlie had been surprised when Bella announced on Thursday evening during dinner she had upped her hours at work. He actually looked very stunned at this revelation and it took him ten minutes to process what she had said, before managing to stutter, "I thought you hated working there?"

Bella sent him a smile and flat out stated, "I need money to my college fund. I'm not keen on taking student loans early." It was a little white lie combined with the truth. What Charlie didn't know, didn't hurt him was her reasoning.

Well Charlie did see her point and they returned to dinner in silence.

Bella smiled at the thought of his reaction. Charlie had never liked Edward and he had hoped she would end up with Jake. But if she didn't, she just thought he would be happy with her seeing Mike. He had always sung the boy's praises when he didn't sing Jake's.

* * *

She was pulled from her thoughts when the doorbell rang. It was strange she thought she didn't expect anyone besides Charlie however she was at work. She quickly went downstairs and opened the door and was startled to see who it was. She silently wondered why it wasn't Jake who had come.

"Bella, can I come in"? Sam asked in a soft voice.

Bella took a few steps back and let him in. "Sam, what's going on?"

He looked uncertain at her before taking a seat on a chair in the kitchen.

She was starting to get worried! "Just spit it out! It can't be that bad?"

She carefully watched him while he thought of what to say – how to explain. She could tell it wasn't easy for him.

Sam cleared his throat and finally said after what had felt like an eternity, "Jared and Paul were on patrol last night. They caught a whiff of her scent; they followed the trail for a mile or so. Then it stopped. The reason I'm telling you this it, it's the first time in months we have caught a whiff off her. It was decided to up patrols around your house."

Bella looked very worried and didn't know what to say, instead she stood up and began to pace. After a while she turned to him, "What are we going to do?"

"Jake is telling Angela almost the same things I'm telling you right now. He is going to suggest that Angela and you should gather your friends and come to La Push tomorrow. Moreover as we speak Billy has invited Charlie to La Push and go fishing."

Now Bella had the explanation of why it was Sam and not Jake who came to her with this information. He had barely finished speaking, when her phone rang. She reached for it and answered. A couple of minutes later she hung up.

"You already knew it was Angela?" He nodded. "Well, it seems you are right, we are going to La Push tomorrow" He nodded and looked relived.

"I should be gone before Charlie gets back from work", Sam said while getting up from the chair.

She opened the back door and before he walked out he turned to her, "I'll look you up tomorrow and give you an update. Quil has promised to keep your friends entertained" He cackled a small smile and left.

Later that night when Bella were cleaning the dishes after dinner, and her Dad was on his way to the living room. She stopped him by saying, "I'm going to La Push tomorrow".

Charlie turned to her and inquired, "To see Jake?"

"It's not the main purpose" Bella admitted while drying their plates, without looking at him before continuing, "I'm going with Angela and some of the others from Forks High to solve some problems that have arisen." Bella looked thoughtful for a moment, "However I do think Jake is going to be there with some of his friends"

Charlie looked surprised for a moment and then he thought of something Billy had told him.

"Angela has been spending an increasingly amount of time in La Push lately, am I right?"

Bella gave him a nod in response before turning away to put the plates into the cupboard. He then mustered the courage to ask, "Are you okay with that?"

"Yeah" Bella said to him with a shrug before continuing, "Angela and Ben broke up because Jake and she fell in love. They are together now. Another reason of why we are going to La Push tomorrow."

Despite their recently understanding Charlie hadn't expected her to be so earnest about things. But let a remark on that slide. They stood in silence for a while in the kitchen before Bella asked if he was going down to see Billy as well (like she didn't already know that!). Charlie nodded.

"Do you think I can get a lift? I would kind of like to hang out with Jake before the others are coming."

Again Charlie nodded in response and their conversation was over for now. He went to the living room and soon the house were filled with "noise" from the television.

The whole world came crashing down on Bella when she was in her room. She felt the knot in her stomach tightened and the tears was dangerously close to falling. Her thoughts drifted to Victoria for the first time in – like forever. She was scared of her even more so when she thought what she was getting Mike into. She sometimes wished she had never met the Cullens because then maybe – just maybe she wouldn't have those awful memories of James, Phoenix, and her birthday and – she stopped herself in these thoughts and thought about Mike. If the Cullens hadn't happened and everything else in the past year then she wouldn't have met him. She heard a wolf howl in the woods and she had never felt so safe. She wondered who was on patrol and went to the window. It was pitch dark outside she couldn't see anything except a pair of yellow eyes looking at her from the tree line. She shook her head, it didn't matter who was on patrol since the most important thing was that she was safe. Tomorrow they would all go to La Push and hopefully work some of their differences out – and she was curious of what Sam could tell her about Victoria.

Bella looked at her watch and decided it wasn't too late to speak to Angela about the morrow and before she changed her mind.

Angela had arranged that she and Jake would meet Ben, Eric, Tyler, Jessica, Lauren and Mike around lunch at First Beach. Bella in return told Angela she would get a lift from Charlie and asked to tag along to meeting the others. Angela agreed it was a good idea and she told Bella that they would bring everything they needed with them from Forks. Just as their conversation was ending, Angela made an innocently inquiry, "What's going on with you and Mike"

Before Bella could think everything through, she had spilled the beans to Angela about everything and the fact she was moving on. Angela promised to keep it between the two.


	6. Many Meetings

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and odd sentence structures are my own.  
**

**Sunday 15th April 2006**

It was early Sunday morning when Bella and Charlie drove to La Push together. She had arranged meeting Jake before he had to pick up Angela, so when Charlie offered her a ride to La Push Bella gladly accepted it. That's why she was sitting in the passenger seat leaning against the window with her eyes closed only opening them to take a sip of her coffee in the travel mug her father had provided her.

Charlie kept sneaking glances at his daughter and it got him thinking of the change she had undergone since arriving in Forks; He knew she normally hated driving in the police cruiser because it made her stand out from the crowd. In the end he was just immensely happy he was seeing her out and about – and not sitting at home moping around like she had done for three months last year. He had of cause noticed the change in her mood. He had an idea it was because of a certain blond and blue eyed boy from her year at Forks High however he possessed an outstanding patience considering it was his only daughter and his profession was with the police. He also noticed how tired she was, but he was sure it wasn't because of any nightmares. Her nightmares had almost vanished and he hadn't woken once in the last month by her screams in the middle of the night. He was happy Bella stayed with him and he didn't send her away to Renee when everything went downhill some months ago. In reality he knew Renee really wanted to be alone with her new husband, it was a win-win situation for them both.

Charlie parked the car in front of the Black residence, reached over to Bella and gently shook her awake. Shortly after they got out of the car and walked up to the door. Billy was sitting in his chair smiling at them and showed them inside. They had decided to eat breakfast together all four before going separate ways. Charlie and Billy were going fishing with Charlie enjoying his day off. Bella and Jake were meeting up with their friends from Forks and La Push. However before that they would spend some quality time together. Bella received Jake's signature bear hug and bend down and kissed Billy on the cheek while Charlie shook Jake's hand. The breakfast was a quiet affaire everyone absorbed in their own thoughts.

An hour later Jake and Bella parted from their fathers and went do his shed next to his house. She looked at her watch and suggested they take their motorcycles out for a spin; Jake had around two hours before he had to leave so he flashed her smile and they silently got their bikes away from the house and their fathers. They kick started the bikes as soon as they had arrived to the place in La Push where Jake had taught Bella to ride. Bella loved the feeling of being in control and the wind in her hair. Soon they found themselves sitting next to each other on their now silent bikes.

"Are you happy?", Bella inquired.

Jake looked thoughtful for a moment while trying to find the right words and finally said, "yeah, I'm very happy."

There wasn't really anymore to say and instead they started to make their way back to where they came from. All too soon Jake told her he had to go and pick up Angela, he turned down a path that wouldn't take him back to his house. Bella waved goodbye to him and sensed someone watching her.

* * *

She knew it was a wolf who surely had taken over "Bella duty" from Jake. She kick started the bike again and drove for a while without any direction. The wolf dutifully followed her and again she couldn't help but feel save. The best thing she had found out this morning was she no longer heard Edward when riding the bike and she attributed this to the fact she was slowly moving on and no longer pinning after him. The wolf howled once and she knew it was time to head back to First Beach. She followed the same path as Jake had done and stopped the bike when she knew she was just out of hearing from the humans. As she rounded the same corner she saw Mike, Angela, Jake and their friends already there. With Jake's keen hearing he already knew she was near and excused himself. He found sitting on the bike and just looking thoughtful.

"Need some help with that?"

Bella almost jumped in surprise to hear his voice and looked flustered at him. She only gave him a nod. They returned to the beach together and saw most of the people were playing with a beach ball in the water. Jake sent Angela a smile and went over to the others while Bella sat down next to Angela on a blanket. Angela reached over and grabbed a soda, "Want one?"

Bella nodded while following Mike with her eyes; they actually never left him while she and Angela talked in hushed voices. Bella knew that Jake knew that she was seeing Mike because of his hearing. He kept shooting her confused glances and she just shook her head not wanting to out her and Mike's secret. They were still in a bubble, like in their own little world. Both Bella and Angela had been so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't notice the rest of the pack had joined them for lunch. Everyone hurried to the blankets to secure a good place, Bella and Angela stood up to greet the Pack but didn't leave their spot on the blanket. When Embry hugged Bella, she noticed a weird expression on Mike's face and she decided they needed to talk after lunch in private. Hopefully Angela could manage to turn the attention away from them long enough to make them disappear. Bella didn't know when Sam would seek her out and hadn't dared to ask anyone, not even Jake. She had a feeling there was an Alpha Order issued on the Pack, so they didn't accidentally spilled their secrets to complete strangers. Angela wouldn't or couldn't confirm it – and she thought it was mighty irritating. But she knew Sam would find her when the time was right.

* * *

After lunch Angela suggested the Pack showing them around La Push and Bella looked around and caught Seth's eyes. He sent her a little smile and she thought it wasn't that bad it was Seth who was her babysitter for the afternoon. She didn't plan on trying to get away from Seth, but she needed a little privacy. She stood up from her place and went over to Seth and leaned in and told him she needed to talk to someone in private. Seth just smiled and made a bee-line for the tree line.

She felt a tap on her shoulder and she turned around only to see Mike smiling at her, "Want to get out of here?" she asked him.

"Yeah I would actually love that."

"Okay, then just follow my lead" Bella offered him a smile.

They all left together as a big group and when all the others looked away Bella pulled Mike with her. She put a finger to her mouth signaling him to be quiet. He did as she gestured and kept his mouth shut. The others walked away from them and Bella beckoned him to follow her. Soon they were on a remote part of the beach. Mike looked amazed around and started to say, "How did you-?"

She cut him off by inching closer to him and soon they almost stood nose to nose if Bella had been as tall as Mike. She silenced him with a kiss and just told him to enjoy the moment. This time he kissed her and when they needed to breathe her knees were weak. Mike still supported her with his firm, yet lovingly embrace.

"What was that for?" He asked huskily

"Well I just wanted to remind you that I'm with you and that I don't want you to fear losing me to one of them" she honestly said while looking into his eyes, "Embry and Quil are like the brothers I never had, we both know Jake once upon a time was in love with me, but that has changed! It's you I want! And I want to see where this is taking us."

Mike didn't reply just kissed her again and sat down on a rock pulling her with him, They sat a while without saying each other just holding hands and looking at the waves gently break against the rocks. They didn't know how long they had been sitting like this when they heard someone cleared his throat. Bella knew it was Sam, and without turning away from Mike she greeted him, "Sam! I was wondering when you would show up"

Mike looked confused at her words.

"I need to talk to Bella in private" Sam mumbled and whistled once. Seth appeared and looked at Sam a little offended. Bella couldn't help but smile at Seth and Sam, and their antics however she had to hide it from Mike.

"Seth, will take you back to your friends on the beach" Sam said directed to Mike.

Seth just huffed and made a gesture towards Mike to follow him. When Mike didn't follow him, he turned around and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, Bella will be fine."

Mike looked from Bella to Sam to Seth and back again not convinced at all. Bella realized she needed to offer some kind of explanation to Mike about the situation.

She picked her words carefully, so he wouldn't get the wrong idea or not to rattle out the real reason.

"I need you to trust me; Go back to First Beach with Seth. I'll be back before you know it. I need to talk to Sam for a moment in private. By the way guys, keep what you've seen to yourself as much as possible! We are still working out our relationship and it's new."

Mike nodded and gave her a kiss. She automatically deepened the kiss; they heard a cough and broke the kiss. He lingered for a moment longer and then walked away very confused off what had taken place. When they were out of hearing range – or at least Mike's, Sam said before Bella could ask any questions, "I'm taking you back to Emily's house, most of the pack will be there, and no Angela is needed down at the beach to help with the charade."

Sam made a move to pick her up, but hesitated when she hadn't moved at all. She just nodded and he picked her up. This was way faster than if she had walked. It felt like a déjà vu for both on them. It was Sam, who had found her curled into a ball on the cold forest floor after Edward had left her.

* * *

A short while later or at least it felt that way Bella thought, they arrived at Emily's house and Sam put her down. They walked in and saw the Pack scattered around the living room. Jake was the first on his feet and pulled towards the couch and they sat down. Emily handed her a cup of tea, Bella accepted it and started to sip while listening to Sam.

"Victoria is still in the era; she's playing some kind of hide and seek. Whenever we get close she just disappears. We have discussed how that could happen and we still don't know. Do you?"

Bella sat her cup down on the table and looked thoughtful for a moment before realizing something, "Have I ever told you about special talents some vampires possess?"

They all shook their head and she continued, "Okay, some vampires develop special abilities other than the normal perks coming with the package such as super strength after they are changed. Take Edward for example he can read minds"

"He is not the only of the Cullens with a special ability? Is he? Jake inquired

Bella shook her head, "Alice can see the future, however only the outcome. Her visions changes if a person changes its mind. Jasper can manipulate emotions, he's an empath. That's about it."

There was a collective groan around the room at her words.

"Maybe Victoria has some kind of ability too." Bella wondered out loud and picked up the cup from the table. She continued, "I will get back to you when I have thought it through, but I'm leaning towards that she has"

Jared never spoke much, but asked, "How do we take her down?"

No one knew how to answer this question.

Instead Sam said, "Jake has already told Angela, that he wants her to stay as much time in La Push she can manage until Victoria is caught. We have patrols running by her house too; 24 hours and Jake has requested – although it's killing him not to have nightly patrols around either of you because Bella still means a lot to him even though he has imprinted on Angela. So he is assigned border control around La Push. However the night patrol shift around Bella and Angela's houses are as following; Jared and Paul are taking night patrols at Bella's and Embry and Quil are assigned to Angela's. You may work out to manage the shifts by yourselves. When neither of you are in La Push there will always be a wolf following Bella and Angela in the shadows."

Bella interrupted Sam, "Angela knows all this?"

Jake nodded, "I told her yesterday"

Sam took charge again, "I know it's going to be difficult to keep your boyfriend out of it and lying to him, but you have to try. We can't risk to be exposed and I know you understand. However if need be, then you may tell him some things. I think you know what to tell and what not to tell. I trust your judgment."

"Well if this is all?" Bella said, "Then I think it's time to get back, don't you think Jake?"

"Yeah it is" Jake responded.

* * *

Just before they reached First Beach Jake pulled Bella into a hug and whispered, "Don't worry about Charlie, he won't know about you and Mike from me or anyone in the pack. Sam issued an Alpa Order on us, however I wouldn't have told Charlie about it anyway. But if you're happy then I'm happy."

They separated and went to join the others. Jake made a bee-line for Angela and kissed her for the first time in public much to Ben's chagrin. Bella smiled while she watched them and made her way towards the others giving them a little privacy or as much privacy they could get with a pack of wolves surrounding them, Bella thought.

Seth went to meet her halfway and noted, "They are perfect together? Aren't they?" while the both watched as the two figures retreated into the tree line.

Bella could only agree with him. They sure looked cute together. "You know it reminds me of me and Mike"

"Yeah, what's going on with him?" Seth prodded her.

"I think we are dating…Sam has issued an Alpa Order on this subject" Bella said in a low voice.

This time Seth was the one to nod. They both went silent and just watched the sunset together.

Bella broke the silence and curious asked, "Where are Jessica and Tyler?"

"Hmm I think they went to be by themselves." Seth started, but was interrupted by Mike, who sat down next to Bella.

"He's right. Jessica's still trying to make me jealous. Not really helping since I haven't looked her way in like forever.", Mike stated.

They all went silent until Mike broke the silence, "What did Sam want?"

Bella looked at him with a tender smile on her lips and replied, "Oh it was nothing; it was actually his fiancée, Emily who needed to speak to me. Well she is pregnant and she needed help with something. Women stuff, you know? Just told Sam to come find me when it was time"

Mike looked a little skeptical at her, but didn't say anything.

A moment later Seth asked out of the blue, "Bella, you do know where Charlie is at the moment right?"

Bella looked confused and replied with confidence, "He went fishing with Billy, right?"

Seth shook his head, "No he has been seeing my mom – helping her out all day! It was Billy's suggestion. If I didn't know better, one would think he was trying to play matchmaker!"

"Say what! But your father just passed away?"

Mike interjected, "Well your Dad has been alone for many years, and maybe it's time for him to find love again. I mean your mother has remarried…" He let the last thing hang in the air.

Seth just shrugged his shoulders, "Yes I know, but maybe Mike's right. You have to live your life, you only get one"

Bella could clearly hear the reference to the Cullens in Seth sentiment and just nodded. Soon the three were joined by Angela and Jake, and they all sat in silence watching the sunset. The sun was now almost gone. Their thoughts were interrupted by Eric who and informed them that they were going back to Forks.

"Well Jessica and Ben are waiting by the car, we should go", Eric stated.

Angela and Bella shared a look and in unison said, "We're staying."

Eric looked at Mike, who just shrugged his shoulders and casually said, "Someone has to give them a ride home and since we drove down here in two cars…"

Eric nodded, turned around and gathered the last things. A few minutes later he was gone and they heard a car engine coming to life.

"I should go" Seth started, "Oh.. and Bella, I'll tell Charlie you'll find your own way back to Forks!"

Both Jake and Angela looked curious at Seth and Bella, before Jake asked, "Isn't Charlie with my dad?"

Bella shook her head, but didn't offer further explanations to the thing Seth had said.


	7. When the Rain Falls

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and odd sentence structures are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:  
**

**Monday 23rd April 2006**

It had been a stressful week for Bella. She had to juggle school and work, while always looking over her shoulder. She was so afraid of Victoria that she never went to other places than Forks High, her house, Newton's Outfitters or La Push. She felt trapped and her relationship with Mike had gone through a rough patch during the week. She knew she balanced on a two-edged sword. On one hand she had to feed Mike one lie after another and on the other she wanted to tell him the whole truth. Every single time they talked she had to omit or leave out something completely. It was eating her up from the inside and she had a constant headaches and stomach ache. They had spent many hours on the phone or in La Push discussing things. Bella couldn't tell Mike the real reason why she went to La Push whenever she wasn't working, being home with Charlie or going to school, in the end she had come up with a blatant lie about tutoring Seth in English. Since she had figured he was the only who wouldn't raise any red flags with Mike.

So she had been relived when she had received a visit from Sam on Friday where he proclaimed Victoria had left town again and she now could move around more freely again. However he did say he would still keep Paul and Jared on night patrols around her house. Bella sighed a breathe of relief and started to think of how she could spill the biggest secret she carried to Mike.

* * *

The answer to her prayers came when she got to school on Monday. Her alarm clock went off around 7 a.m., but she didn't feel rested at all. She sat in her bed a couple of minutes while trying to remember the nightmare she had had. She had woken around 5 a.m. with a scream, sweating and breathing heavily. She had managed to doze off again in some kind of a slumber with a weird feeling in her stomach.

The weird feeling was still in her stomach and she kind of knew that something out of the ordinary would happen today. She started to think about the time before she moved to Forks where she didn't believe in anything supernatural or any omens, but after the move everything was possible. She just didn't know what and she thought it was an unsettling feeling, and briefly considered skipping school. Bella knew she couldn't skip because she was still behind her senior class – and she would not for anything in the world be forced to either to attend summer school or stay behind a year when Mike and the rest moved on. Thus she got out of bed and went through her motions while hoping her gut feeling would go away.

While driving through the rain she managed to push her thoughts into the back of her mind however they hit her full force when she saw Angela standing at her locker. She walked over to Angela, who looked a little weary and unsure of how to approach Bella.

"Morning", Bella offered her a smile

Angela responded with a nod and asked, "can we talk somewhere else? It's important"

Before Bella could answer Angela dragged her off to the nearest ladies room and examined the stalls to make sure they were alone.

By the time Angela was done, Bella was very baffled and curious, "What's going on?"

"Yesterday when we ate dinner, my Dad told my family, he had seen Esme Cullen, before heading to the grocery store in Forks. I didn't tell you right away because I wanted to double-check with Jake. He confirmed the Pack had a meeting with Dr. Cullen and some of the others."

Bella turned white as a sheet and felt the room spinning. She grabbed the nearest sink for support otherwise she would have toppled over. She hadn't eaten breakfast this morning, she felt her stomach ache returning with full force.

Angela looked on with concern and when she found Bella was fairly steady on her feet, she handed her a bottle of water, "Drink this. It'll help, I promise."

After she had drunk most of the water, Bella flat out stated, "They are probably back because the Pack – or rather Sam called them with catching Victoria."

After a while in silence Angela continued, "It really threw you for a loop, right?"

"Yeah it did", Bella admitted

"I just thought you should know"

Angela was starting to walk towards the door when Bella stopped her by asking the one question they both knew Bella was going to ask, "Is Edward back?"

Angela shrugged and said, "I don't know. I guess we'll soon find out"

Bella was still a little unsteady on her feet and now she knew why she had that bad feeling all morning. Her thoughts were all jumbled together and it was a mess. She had so many questions and so few answers – and then there was Mike. How in the world could she assure him that she didn't want Edward back, right now she didn't know, but she knew Mike would get insecure when the rumor mill picked up on the Cullens return to Forks. Bella knew it was only a matter of time and that she was racing against clock to beat the rumors.

Angela had taken Bella when the latter had been steady on her feet to the school nurse office because of what happened; they had lied to the nurse about why they weren't in class. Bella had she had been feeling a little queasy all morning. Bella walked into class and gave the teacher the permission slip from the nurse's office.

The day truly dragged on and she had skipped lunch in the cafeteria with Angela, retreating to the library which in turn unfortunately included avoiding Mike all day.

* * *

The first thing she did when school was out was to text Mike and asking him to meet her at the bleachers because she had decided to take Sam on his word and finally share some of the things she had been going through and naturally the main subject; the Cullens return. She only waited five minutes when he trudged up to her and scanned the surroundings.

"Yeah, the weather is pretty bad today – I think the team is practicing in the gym", Bella said with a small smile on her face.

Mike let his school bag fall to the ground and sat down next to her. They shared a kiss and snuggled closer together while they let the rain be the rain.

After a while Mike asked, "What gives?"

"Just needed to feel close to you" she said with a sad smile before she continued, "I want to tell you something. Please don't interrupt until I'm finished because you won't like some of the things you are going to hear and some of the things are going to be hard to believe!"

Before Mike could say anything Bella started in a low, shaky voice that was barely audible, "Okay, I know you have been curious about what happened between me and the Cullens. The Cullens are vampires. They only drink animal blood. Edward was the first boy I fell in love with. Looking back I was very naive and young. Well his family took me in like a daughter when I meet them. You remember I was wearing a cast at the Spring Dance last year, right?"

Mike looked wide-eyed at her revelation and could only respond with a nod.

"Well there was this vampire, named James. My blood sang to him. He tried to kill me, his mate, Victoria thought Edward killed James however in reality it was Emmett and Jasper. She is delusional and thinks a mate for a mate is fair like the expression an eye for an eye. The problem is that I'm not Edward's mate – at all. She is trying to kill me as we speak. That's why I have been spending so much time in La Push lately. Before you ask there is more to this story. Jake and his friends are not regular humans either. They are shapeshifters and can change into wolves at will. Werewolves can only change when the moon is full. Vampires and shapeshifters are mortal enemies and the Cullens are indirectly involved in this, since shapeshifters are made to protect their tribe from vampires. When the Cullens moved near the Quileute Tribe and their lands they agreed to put an invisible border between them. The shapeshifters protect the tribe and the vampires protect Forks. If a vampire crosses the border the shapeshifters are allowed to kill them. They lost Victoria's scent yesterday after playing hide and seek with them for four days."

"I-I don't know what, uh, say! It's a lot to take in. But I'm happy to finally be let in on some of your thoughts. I kind of figured out you have been omitting a lot of things since the trip to La Push where Sam asked to talk to you in private, am I right?"

"Yeah, and I'm so sorry. I know we agreed on no secrets. But I just couldn't tell you this. Sam said I could tell you some of the things because it's hard to walk on a double-edged sword for a long time. Sam is the alpha of the pack and I think Jake is his beta. However Jake is the true alpha because of linage and things like that. Do you think you can, you know, forgive me- you know for not telling you the truth?" Bella stumbled on the last words and sent him a sad smile.

She continued while tears were starting to fall, "The Cullens are back. I-I haven't seen them or anything. I was told by Angela when I arrived in school this morning."

Bella could see Mike turn white as a sheet and she continued in a hurry cutting him off, "They are probably here to help out with the Victoria situation. I have no intention of taking Edward back – at all. Remember I-I said there wouldn't be any secrets between us."

He didn't respond like she had imagined instead he pulled her into an embrace and whispered, "I believe you. I know he really did a number on you. Now I understand things a little better. We'll get through it. I promise."

Mike wasn't stupid and it finally dawned to him the reason why Angela suddenly had dumped Ben like a sack of potatoes to date Jake. There was more going on here than the eye could see. That would be the only explanation. Hadn't Bella talked about mates when she mentioned the vampires? Maybe there was something alike with the shapeshifters. He would however wait until the girl in his arms were ready to tell him about that. He had learned to be patient with her a long time ago.

He could feel her salty tears on her lips when he kissed her; after they had parted he just drew her closer and let her cry. She had never been so out of control with her emotions before; the only time that resembled this situation was when Edward had left her. It was the first time in months she finally let go of all her tears and for the first time she was happy not being alone in her room. Her tears were a reaction of feeling relived, acceptance and not losing Mike like she had feared she would.

When her crying finally subsided, they were both very wet. Neither had a clue of how long they had been sitting on the bleachers. Mike pulled out his phone to look at the time.

"Oh we have been sitting here for three hours – and I bet my mom isn't happy with me" Mike said with a shrug and continued, "I was supposed to work a shift today after school"

Bella looked wide-eyed at him and she had a feeling that a certain visitor was waiting for in her room besides Charlie would become very worried if she wasn't home when dinner rolled around. They both agreed they should go home and change clothes. Neither wanted to become sick; they agreed to talk later in the evening.

* * *

When Bella got home she quickly went upstairs and found a towel in the bathroom. She started to dry herself and was about to shed her wet clothes when she heard, "Hey Bella!"

Bella confused turned around and yelped, "What are you doing here? You scared me half to death!"


	8. The Return

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and odd sentence structures are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

**Monday 23rd April 2006**

"Bella, I'm not here to hurt you or ask your forgiveness. I-I guess I'm just here because my family thought you would most likely listen to me, and maybe hear me out?"

Astounded Bella moved towards her bed; the world had started to spin and the last thing she wanted was to faint in the presence of a Cullen. The only thing she could do was to nod.

After a while in uncomfortable silence, Bella finally asked the burning question in a shaky voice, "Why are you back?"

The vampire in front of her started to pace like a lion in a cage, while trying to figure out how to explain and he finally came to a conclusion, only one word would be needed, so he simply stated, "Victoria"

Bella swallowed hard; she had already seen that answer coming, "The pack called you?"

The only response she got was a nod and she understood it wasn't really their mess but the Cullens, and it was probably only fair if they came back to help clean up.

"Are the whole family back?" She dreaded the answer and the fact she had to face Edward again.

He shook his head, "Edward will be here by the end of the week. The family thought it would be best for him to hang back a little. He wasn't too happy with the decision". He chuckled at the memory.

Bella let out an audible sigh of relief by this and with her spirit a little higher asked, "What's going to happen now?"

"Well, Charlie is a sleep, right?" he inquired

Bella nodded.

"If you are up for it, I'm sure the family would like to see you – and oh before I forget, Alice apologizes for leaving you. She instructed me to tell you before taking you to meet the family"

"Emmett, I-I-I think I forgive all of you, I don't believe it was your decision to leave. I solely blame Edward", Bella cracked a little smile, "And besides my life is great at the moment. Alice probably already saw it – I met someone new, I'm happy. Just don't ask who it is – at least not yet. Let me go get my jacket and shoes"

Bella left him standing confused in the room and went downstairs to retrieve her jacket and shoes.

* * *

When she returned, Emmett gathered her up in his arms and jumped out the window. She never liked this way of transport and she nauseous when he sat her down in front of the house. She took a deep breathe trying to calm her nerves and keeping her dinner down in the process. When they arrived at the Cullens house, he put her down. She was a little wobbly on her feet and Emmett reached out to make sure she didn't fall to the ground. He carefully led her to the front door and up the stairs. It was clear to Bella the family tried to give her some space and she knew how hard it must be for Alice. However Bella secretly thought Jasper had subdued his wife, so she wouldn't tackle Bella in a bear hug. She was thankful Emmett had refrained from giving her one of his trademark hugs when he had seen her for the first time in months – and she was grateful he hadn't once called her "little sister". They arrived in the living room and Bella saw the Cullens were scattered around the room. She scanned the room and found Esme hovering in the door to the kitchen, Carlisle was standing by the fireplace, Rosalie was seated on the piano bench, Jasper and Alice were both sitting on the loveseat, her in his lap. Bella offered them all a little smile and pressed herself against Emmett and he responded by putting an arm around her shoulders. Right now she felt most comfortable around Emmett. To her surprise Rosalie returned her smile and made no move to get her husband back. Emmett led her to the couch opposite Alice and Jasper and they sat down. Bella thought they all looked a little anxious and she knew Jasper must have a hard time with all the feelings going around combined with him subduing Alice.

Emmett broke the ice by retelling his conversation with Bella in her room. They all listened carefully and when he was finished the silence were thick. During this the family had deemed it safe to come closer to the four sitting around the coffee table. Bella knew she had to tell the family of how their leaving nearly had destroyed her and thus she shared a look with Emmett, who gave her the courage by squeezing her hand a little, and cleared her throat.

"Please don't interrupt me, ask questions when I'm done. I-I forgive all of you – especially you Jasper. It wasn't your fault, it was your nature – and I-I Know Edward made everything worse by pushing me into that table. I have come to terms with it the fact it was his decision to leave. I don't blame you for following him. Family is family, I-I understand that. My Dad and I have grown closer over the months you all have been gone. We have found a way to get into step with one another. I won't neglect what you leaving me did to me. I was a "zombie" for months – didn't eat, woke up screaming in the night with nightmares and generally couldn't deal with going to school."

Bella paused catching her breathe again before picking up where she left off, "Around January my Dad pushed me to socialize a little and instead of the people at Forks High I chose Jacob Black. He was my sun and helped heal my broken heart, which were in a million pieces at the time. I know you know about their true nature; he too disappeared for a while; when he came back he was a shapeshifter, and again I-I was very lonely."

Bella swallowed hard trying to keep the tears at bay before continuing, "In the end, it all ended well, we are still friends and he imprinted on Angela, which I'm happy with. They both deserve to be happy and I know he had a crush on me, that I could never reciprocate – anyway."

They all shared the same horrified expression and Esme had sometime moved to Bella's other side during her tale, and without knowing Bella had grabbed Esme's hand and allowed her to rub soothing circles on it.

They were all quiet and it was Alice who broke the silence by asking, "You still haven't told us how – err - Edward left you"

Bella soaked in a deep breath and felt tears in her eyes. She bit her lip while being pulled into the horrifying memory and in a monotone voice she just told them how he had left her in the woods, how Sam had found her, brought her home, how she had discovered he had taken all things relating to them from her and finally how she had discovered them under the loose floorboard in her room. She ended this tale by saying, "You know the rest, I just told you. But it's time to move on – what's done is done. Nothing you can do that will erase the last 7 months from my mind. I have moved on…" She trailed of.

"Moved on?" Rosalie spoke for the first time directly to her.

"Yeah I met someone new – someone who isn't a supernatural being. I'm not ready to tell you who he it is yet. Don't ask. Maybe Edward doesn't deserve it, but I think I should tell him." Bella clarified.

Rosalie cracked her first genuine smile at Bella, "Well Edward's an ass! And I actually believe he don't deserve you after what he did to you. Besides I've always thought he treated you like you were made of porcelain…"

"If you're finished with your rant" Carlisle cut in and directed to Bella, "I'm so sorry for what my son did to you. But I'm happy to see you found happiness elsewhere. I'm sure we will tell who makes you happy when you are ready to. I promise you one thing; we will never leave again without a proper goodbye."

Bella could only nod.

What happened next was a surprise to everyone; Jasper left Alice's side and went around the coffee table before sitting down in front of Bella.

"Did you mean what you just said?"

"Bella offered him a big smile in response and moved forward to give him a hug.

"Thank you, Darlin'" he whispered and in return she just said, "You're welcome"

They let each other go and Bella sank back into the sandwich between the two vampires. Bella knew Alice hardly could contain herself anymore and signaled to her a hug would be accepted, but made it clear she wanted Esme and Emmett to stay with her.

Before Bella could count to three she was gathered in Alice's arms and nothing was needed to be said. Bella knew Alice felt remorse of what happened and Alice knew Bella had forgiven her. They let each other go.

Carlisle cleared his throat, "Before we let you go. We need to tell you some things. No more hiding stuff from you. We have another problem at hand besides Victoria"

Bella looked surprised at him, but gestured he should continue.

"There are royalty among vampires like they have in some European countries. The vampire royalty are called The Volturi and they have a residence in Volterra, Italy. ",Carlisle trailed off.

After a while in silence where Bella let everything soak in, he took an unnecessary breathe and continued, "They are all very gifted with different powers – they collect vampires with special gifts. Alice, Edward and to a lesser extent Jasper are all very attractive to the what a mind reader, a psychic and an empath would bring to their guard. They have figured out you know about vampires from a spy. Aro, one of the kings, called me and sincerely told me if we didn't do something they would. Thus we had to return. However I don't think you want to be turned anymore since you have rekindled your relationship with Charlie, got knew friends, who are human and a new boyfriend. Aro told me we had until the end of June…"

Alice picked up where he left off, "However Carlisle secured a deal with them to put your transformation off until after the summer holiday; at least it will buy us some time figure out what to do. I have already seen how awkward it will be…"

Bella found Alice's eyes and she sent Bella a nod in response. With that Bella knew Alice had seen who her boyfriend was – and she knew she wouldn't tell the others. They all sat in silence before Carlisle said, "However I think, our best odds is to concentrate on capturing Victoria first and then we will deal with the issue regarding The Volturi."

Bella yawned and Emmett took this as a cue to bring her back. When Bella passed Carlisle she gave him a hug and waved goodbye to the rest. Emmett and her went outside, and before he gathered her in his arms, Rosalie came after them and gave her a hug and awkwardly said; "If you ever need anything, let me know. And just so you know we all suffered when we left you. Everyone except Edward was ready to come back – including me. I don't hate you."

Bella looked dumbfounded at Rosalie and only hugged her again and said, "Thanks, I appreciate it"

* * *

Before Bella went to bed she texted Mike.

Mike, I just went to see the Cullens. Emmett came around and picked me up. It was a really good conversation. I found a little peace by talking to them. They had left Edward somewhere else. He won't come back before the upcoming weekend because they thought it wouldn't be a good idea for him to be there. They don't know about us. Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Sleep tight and sweet dreams :) xoxo – Bella.

She received a text from him five minutes later.

Bella, thanks for telling me the truth. See you tomorrow :) Sweet dreams. – Mike.


	9. Interlude I: Charlie

******************Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and odd sentence structures are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

**********I'm looking for a new Beta; contact me if you're interested. The last 4 chapters - maybe more hasn't been edited. **

**Saturday 28th april 2006**

Charlie looked out the window; what he saw was depressing. Everything was painted in grey and the rain poured down in thick beams. He could see the lightning and hear the thunder in the distance. Groaning he sat down behind the disk and reached for his mug. The day had been hectic from the very moment he sat foot at the station earlier. First there was a car accident on the highway and someone had broken into an empty house in Forks. He had just returned from another car accident; this time involving a little girl and her mother. Luckly no one got hurt, they had escaped with the fright.

Charlie was pulled from his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door.

"Yes?"

His deputy came in and handed him come papers, "The reports concerning the missing hikers, you asked for earlier."

"Ahh yes, thank you Charlie answered with a stressed looked on his face because his thoughts were somewhere else".

After the deputy left and had closed the door behind him; Charlie tried to focus on the papers. However his concentration was slipping and kept drifting towards Bella. Ten minutes later he gave up, put the papers away and let slipped into his thoughts again.

Her nightmares became a nightly occurrence. In the beginning he would wake up and run to her room. He sat with her for hours trying to soothe her. After a couple of weeks he simply stopped coming to her room. He had been devastated witnessing her fall into a deep depression. He didn t know what to do; he had never been a parent to anyone and not a teenage girl to boot. He sometimes cursed Renee to hell for taking Bella from him and by proxy denying him the chance of being a real father to his only daughter. He often regretted his decision not to fight Renee for custody over Bella. Some weeks during the summer weren't enough in his opinion. Deep inside he knew they had been too young to be parents and getting married. On top of that they were very different with clashing personalities.

He had been thrilled when Bella asked if she could move in with him during her junior and senior year of High School in Forks. He had been looking forward to getting to know her again. That pretty much went out the window right away. The fist thing he was concerned about when it came to his only daughter was that she had grown up too fast; she cooked him dinner every night, did the grocery shopping, cleaned the house and did the dishes after dinner. He often wondered if Bella had been forced to do all these things while living with Renee who was a little flightey and at the same time he had presumption that Bella didn't think he could take care of himself. Afterall he had survived without her or any other woman for a number of years.

Charlie let out an audibly sigh and continued to stare out the window. The rain was still pouring down and the sky was grey as ever. He shook his head and let more thoughts flood his mind. He really couldn't pinpoint why Bella had such difficulties finding friends; sure she was shy, introvert and preferred to read over company from other people. He knew it was a trait she had inherited from him. Neither were big talkers and neither were good showing emotions nor talk about them. Deep down he knew she was a good kid although since she became involved with that Cullen kid she had changed. A string of incidents he didn't understand what had gone over between her and the Cullen kid, which in turn left to her depression and her elimination from her friends at Forks High.

His thought were interupted when the phone rang. He couldn't concentrate of the conversation which were related to the missing hikers. After five minutes he hung up; if anyone asked him to retell the conversation he couldn't do that without looking at the few notes he had scribbled down and immidately escaped to his thoughts again.

After he had seen her succumb to the depression over a period of three months he finally called Renee. Understandably she had been equally as worried as himself; four serious phone calls later they agreed that either Bella would start seeing a psychiatrist or starting to be around her friends again. He was very relieved when she chose option number two. Not because he couldn t afford paying for a psychiatrist or medication, but because he firmly believed in the power of friendship and love from family. His best friend Billy Black had helped him through the hardest time when Renee left and he in turn had helped Billy coped with his wife Sarah s death in a car accident. However he had been surprised with the revelation of the person she spend her spare time with, Jacob.

He tore his gaze from the window and reached for his mug on the disk and carefully sipped the hot liquid known as coffee. The mug was warm and it made a good heater on a cold day; thus he carefully twirled it around in his hands and let the thoughts once again take over.

Jacob was Billy's son. Two years younger than Bella, but it didn't matter. Age really didn't matter in love Charlie believed. However it was a well known secret in La Push that both Billy and he dreamed of a wedding between Bella and Jacob. A union would bring the Black s and the Swan s closer together. He knew that both teenagers were painfully aware of this dream. Some circumstances he didn't know of had put an end to this dream. All he knew was; Jacob dating Angela Weber, who was one of Bella's friends from Forks High and daughter of the minister in Forks. He had tried asking both Sue Clearwater and Billy about it; both shut up like oysters. He was left very perturbed and confused. His girlfriend and best friend refused to let him in on what was going on. He had a feeling his own daughter was a tied into this, but he couldn't pinpoint how or wht she was involved. All he could do was being patient and wait until he was let in on the secrets or whatever they were keeping from him.

Therefore Charlie hadn't been all that suprised when he came home the night before finding Bella and Mike in the middle of a passionate embrace on the couch. He was happy Bella was moving on from the Cullen kid and if it couldn't be with Jake; Mike wasn't a bad replacement. He smiled at the thought of how they both had looked and he was sure his faced had mirrored what he had seen.

* * *

"Dad, this isn't what it looks like", Bella stammered while trying to distangle herself from Mike.

"I'm not angry", Charlie responded and turned to Mike, "How's your folks?"

"Good, sir", Mike answered rubbing his sweaty palms on his pants.

Charlie thought the boy looked relived when he put his gun away and chuckled a bit, "Nothing to be scared of because like I said I'm not angry"

During this exhange of word Bella had finally found her own voice and started to explain everything and soon Mike felt comftable enough around him to join in here and there.

"Now I know the real reason why you upped your hours at Newton Outfitters", Charlie paused and continued, "As long you're happy, kiddo, I'm happy".

The look on Bella's face was priceless. She was flabbergasted and her mouth formed an O. He sent her a brilliant smile and he continued, "It's getting late; I'm going to bed".

He turned around ready to leave and turned around again, "Your secret is safe with me, you can have your space here. I won't tell a soul. But Bella, he's not staying over"

Then she did something he didn't expect; she threw herself at him and hugged him like her life depended on it. It warmed his heart and he was happy he finally got a real hug from her. And he still remembered the "thank you daddy!" she had whispered. Mike had looked a little taken aback of this, but nevertheless smiled. He knew Mike had left shortly after he had gone to bed.

* * *

Charlie smiled fondly at the memory and looked at his watch. His shift was soon ending and he was glad. He wondered if Mike stayed for dinner because he knew Bella had extended a dinner invitation to him and somehow he knew it wouldn't be the last time Bella would extend such an invitation to him. He got up from his chair and looked at the untouched reports on his disk; he let out an audible sigh, shook his head while walking out his office. He found his police cap, clocked out, said goodnight to his deputy and went to the police cruiser while the rain kept pouring down. Charlie thought while getting in the car it was nice the thunder had stopped.


	10. An Important Meeting

******************Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and odd sentence structures are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

**********I'm looking for a new Beta; contact me if you're interested. The last 4 chapters - maybe more hasn't been edited. **

**Friday 27th April 2006**

Bella closed the front door after saying goodnight to Mike. The evening had been wonderful, however Charlie or anyone else wasn't meant to know of their relationship. The time had flown by. Neither had noticed the time until Charlie came home; what had happend was quite embarssing if Bella had anything to say about it. She blushed a deep shade of red when she thought of how Charlie had caught Mike and she making out on the couch. She smiled widely as she locked up and turned off the light. Bella had been surprised how Charlie reacted. She had never expected him going through the roof. Deep inside she knew Charlie looked at Mike as a much better choice than Edward; however she assumed Charlie would like anyone she was dating as long his name wasn't Edward! Charlie had from the beginning found Edward and his family wierd, although he respected Carlisle Cullen as a doctor.

She went up the stairs and went to her room. She heard him snorring peacefully while looking in the mirror. She looked in the mirror and wondered what anyone would see in her. She had always suffered from low self esteem and didn't really know how to be around people. She always felt awkward in others company; however this had changed a lot since her arrival in Forks.

Bella thoughts again drifted to Charlie; after living with him for almost two years; the first thing she learned was he was a heavy sleeper. Otherwise she wouldn't have gotten away with all that had went over the past two years or the fact her window had almost become a train station at night. The second thing she learned was he couldn't cook even if his life depended on it. Bella was happy she made the choice of moving to Forks; she had gotten to know him much better and their relationship had improved since she came out of her depression. They would never be a normal family and she knew that. Maybe this was the reason she craved being with Mike. The cold facts were if she had stayed with Edward she would never have a real family with children of her own. The longer she was with Mike the more she wanted children. It was a surprise to herself when she thought these things

Bella sat down in her rocking chair and pulled a blanket around her. Soon after she closed her eyes and drifted of.

* * *

She awaken to the sound of someone tapping on the window. She couldn't have slept for more than a half hour or so judging by looking on her watch. She yawned and slowly got up from the rocking chair and opened it. She let out a breath of relief when she realized it was Emmett.

"What's up?", she inquired

"Edward has returned to Forks and he would like to see you. He thought it might be best sending me as a vanguard. Don't kill the messenger", Emmett shook with a his head with a big grin on his face and continued, "Are you up for it?"

Bella took a deep breath to buy some time and said with a firm voice, "Yeah, I think it's best to get it over with"

"May I"?

She nodded and Emmett picked her up.

"Don't worry, I'll bring you back to Charlie's in one piece", Emmett said and jumped out the window.

Short after they arrived in what Bella could see a was a clearing in the woods, but she doubted it would be THEIR clearing. She was happy if it wasn't because it would hit a little close to home. Emmett gave her a hug and told her Edward would be there in a minute. He would leave them to speak alone for some time before coming to get her. Bella was grateful he wasn't far away.

"Bella?"

She spun around and saw a face she never thought she would see again. She felt tears welling to her eyes and wondered how she would be able to talk because of a lunp was in her throat. When she didn't respond immidately, Edward came closer to her. He could feel him standing inches from her even with closed eyes.

"Bella, open your eyes. I'm not going to hurt you", Edward carefully prodded.

She opened her eyes and with a shaky voice said, "No, I believe you. But we need to talk"

"I owe you an apology for what I did to you", he voice became more shaky for each word he said.

"Stop! Yes I was hurt, very hurt. I guess you're family has enlightned you?" She didn't wait for him to answer, "I won't go into details, but in my opinion is all this water under a bridge. A lot has happend during your absence from my life. My relationship to Charlie has improved, my relationship to Angela and the others has improved, I have a best friend in Jake and most importnaly I have moved on from you. Besides when you left my heart was in a million pieces and it was Jake who picked up the the way I know of their secret and your anomosity towards each other. Please behave when around them and they will return the favor. Your family has behaved like angels around them and vice versa", Bella said with a firm voice.

Edward looked flabbergasted at his ex-girlfriend's new attitude towards him. When he didn't speak it allowed her to continue her rant, "I'm seeing someone. I've been seeing Mike Newton for the past month and I really cherish what I have with him. Please don't try screwing everything. I think you have done enough damage.

He nodded and made a gesture for her to continue. She caught this gesture, "I'm seeing someone. I've been seeing him for the past month. I really Please don't..."

"What? Would you mind repeating it?", Edward interjected her rant with a sad smile

"No I suppose I could repeat it, but it doesn't make it any easier for you to cope with", Bella shrugged.

"No it probaly wouldn't", Edward agreed, "For your information I met some of the wolves yesterday afternoon. But why didn't I detect this from them?"

"Hmm...I guess it's because of Sam's Alpha order or something...", Bella looked equally confused at this sentiment.

They both went quiet for a while.

Edward broke the silence after he had digested the information about Mike and Bella, "And no I won't cause any trouble for you or Mike. I know I blew every chance of getting back together with you when I left in the first place. I know I made everything worse by pushing you into the table filled with glasses. You didn't need protection from Jasper, but from me. It might be water under the bridge for you, but for me the decision I made last september is hunting me. Your secret is safe with me – you know with the relationship between you and Mike. Although I don't understand why it's a secret?"

Bella looked thoughtful for a moment, "Because we don't like the pressure that comes with being public besides it's sort of fun trying to fool everyone. Jessica is almost blue in her head because she can't work out why we are spending all our sparetime together. The wolves knows with all the stuff going on with Victoria and therefore Angela knows. Jake imprinted on her. Your family doesn't know who I'm seeing; just I'm seeing someone and it's getting serious."

"What about Charlie?"

"Yeah he knows too", Bella smiled, "I do hope we can be friends?"

Edward sent her a dazzling smile as a response.

"See you around then?", Bella inquired.

He nodded and he knew his time with her was over. Before Bella could say anything else Emmett was at her side, "At your service, Miss. Need a lift?". He was smiling broadly and bowed like a gentleman. Edward shook his head at his brothers silly antics.

Bella caught on, "Why, yes kind sir. I do need a lift", she curtsied and allowed him to scoop her up into his arms.

As soon as she arrived in her room she nearly fell on the bed because of extaution. She found her phone and quickly wrote a text to Mike explaining she had seen Edward and he understood they were over for good. She smiled at the response she had gotten from Mike and fell a sleep soon after.


	11. Clouded Judgment

******************Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (: **

* * *

**May 1st 2006**

Bella was on her way to meet the Cullens and the pack to discuss how to take down Victoria. She had just gotten off work and as usually it rained. Her mood was sour because it was driving her crazy she had to keep lying to Mike about the most crucial events. Luckily Mike had been sharing her shift and thus made her forget her thoughts a little.

Now alone in her car the internal rant began once again, _sure she had told him some of the things that were going on around them, but it was very much not in her nature keeping secrets from people she cared for. She knew her love for Mike might be clouding her judgment nonetheless she had a mission other than finding out how to bring Victoria down and that was obtaining permission to tell Mike everything from the Cullens and the pack._

Today she was going to get it she decided. She neared the place where she had arranged to meet Emmett. He would take her to the clearing where the council would take place.

"Someone's looking fierce!" Emmett remarked as she closed the car door.

She sent him a look filled with determination and said, "I want to obtain permission to tell Mike everything without omitting a single thing as I have done before"

"You really like this guy?" he continued without waiting for her response, "I never understood why Edward took such a stand against Mike. He seemed like a nice guy who I actually think would be a good friend under different circumstances and I'm gratefully how Jacob and Mike looked after you when we left."

This rendered Bella speechless and instead of commenting upon this she said, "Let's get going!"

Emmett complied with her request and picked her up bridal style. Soon they were under way to the clearing and before she knew it they had arrived. Emmett put her down on the ground. Bella still kept her distance to Alice and Edward. Even though she had talked things through with both of them trusting them was still an issue however Bella surprised herself by opening her arms towards Alice. She was nearly knocked over by the enthusiastic pixie, she released Bella sensing it was a bit overwhelming. That made Bella happy Alice had got the message about respecting her boundaries.

Bella turned around when she heard a howl and to see twelve shape shifters emerging from the woods. She was still taken aback how huge they were. She instantly sensed how uneasy the Cullens became when hearing the howl and shrugged her shoulders. Soon the shape shifter with the russet colored skin nuzzled her with its snout. She didn't have to bend down to hug it and in turn she received a lick in the face before it padded over to a bush. Jake emerged from the behind the bush and gave Bella a hug. The other shape shifters sat down haunches except Sam who had also changed into a pair of shorts. The meeting was in session.

"Is there anything new on your side?" Edward was the first to speak.

"We caught the red head's scent yesterday at the north end of the border", Sam answered in a serious voice.

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose while Jacob took over, "Embry and Quill gave chase, in the end she evaded us again"

Carlisle looked thoughtful, "We should really work out a new plan how to catch her. Our current tactic doesn't seem to work because she evaded Jasper and Rosalie the other day as well"

"So what are we going to eh do?" Bella inquired.

It was Jasper who answered, "I think we should set a trap"

"How?" Bella curious asked.

"We use Bella as bait" Jasper said as it was nothing to worry about.

"Absolutely no!" Jacob and Edward exclaimed in unison.

They looked surprised at each other and started a staring contest which only broke when Bella spoke up, "No, you two don't have anything to say and you do not treat me like a thing. I'm a human being with a mind of my own and I want to get rid of her! If using me as bait is the solution, so be it!"

Everyone looked startled at her as if they never thought she speak up for herself.

Carlisle cleared his throat, "I agree with Bella, don't you Sam?"

"Yeah, of course I do" Sam said, "However they do have point, we need to make sure of her safety and the safety of the people in La Push and Forks"

Bella cut in, "The only thing I ask if we can set a plan in motion after Prom, which is on Friday."

Alice agreed with Bella mostly because she loved to shop.

"Why?" Jacob asked incredulous.

"Because I want to experience one night of fun before I might die in trying to get rid of Victoria" Bella answered with determination, "But we probably should work out a plan before we part ways today.

Rosalie who had been quiet so far proposed, "We can do it the Sunday after the Prom. That way Mike, Angela and their friends can spend the day in La Push while Bella is with us and it gives us approximately two weeks to give our plan a polishing touch?"

"Yeah, it could work" Edward said thoughtful.

"What about Charlie?" Bella inquired. She needed to know nothing would happen to her father. He had become dear to her.

"Well, the weather should be good on Saturday. I wonder if Billy wouldn't be happy to take him on a fishing trip" Jake said with a smile.

Bella looked relived at this.

Jasper cut in, "Edward should have the opportunity to take down Victoria. Would you be comfortable being with him?"

Bella could only shake her head, "But I'll do it for the greater good if I can have either Jake, Leah or Seth with me as well"

Without even consulting the shape shifters Jasper said, "Done. It's up to Sam and Jake to figure out who is going to be with you. Agree?"

Sam nodded, "Agreed"

"We have to draw Victoria far away from Forks and La Push to limit the damage" Jasper continued and turned to his wife, "What do you see?"

Alice didn't answer immediately, "I have seen Edward taking down in the forest. I can't say exactly where. But she is alone, there isn't anyone else. As always I have difficulties seeing the packs role in this"

"Am I to be hurt in the process? Can you see that? Bella was frantic at the thought of being turned and then leaving her father and Mike.

Alice shook her head looking down hiding a sad smile.

Sam took over, "I need to know if your intention is still to be changed, Bella"

"As I told the Cullens some weeks before it's not my intention anymore – at least not now", Bella murmured, "Unless I'm in grave danger, gravely injured or I chose it for the right reasons. I've changed as you all know; I'm not the little scared lamb anymore. I've grown more confident since I started getting closer to Charlie and Mike."

Rosalie flashed a smile in her direction, "Yes, you should only do it for your own sake, not for some guy!"

Edward looked extremely sour at her, but nonetheless took the jab with surprising calm and didn't retaliate.

Esme cleared her throat, "Maybe we should enlighten the pack about the Volturi?"

"Who is that?" Sam asked in a stern voice.

"In short, vampire royalty from Italy" Jasper said softly.

"And the long version?" Sam prodded.

Carlisle launched to tell them everything they had told Bella some weeks before.

"Can they cause problems for us or Bella?" Jake inquired.

Alice was the one who spoke up, "Yes, they can. But Carlisle has secured a deal with them to put off your transformation until after the summer holiday; at least it will buy us some time figure out what to do. I have already seen how awkward it will be!"

Carlisle took over, "However I think, our best odds is to concentrate on capturing Victoria first and then we will deal with the issue regarding The Volturi"

"Yes, you are absolutely right", Sam agreed.

"Meeting adjoined?" Carlisle asked in relief.

"No I have one last thing" Bella said "I want to obtain permission to tell Mike everything – not omitting crucial parts of the story – my story if I might add. It's getting harder and harder to lie to him."

Sam and Carlisle both gave her the consent to do so which made Bella relieved. Furthermore they agreed to answer all his questions if he had any. It would also serve as an opportunity for them to be officially introduced to him.

They agreed to meet up again during the week to finish the plan and parted ways.

* * *

Bella had actually taken a little nap on the way home in Emmett's arms. She knew he wouldn't drop her and thus she relaxed. He slowly lowered her to the bed without waking her. Before he left, he whispered, "Sleep tight, B"

Sleepily Bella answered him, "Thanks"

**AN: ********I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a while! Life suddenly took a toll on me combined with my exams at school. I have written half of chapter 12 and all of chapter 13. Hopefully they will be publish before christmas.**


	12. Answers Pt I

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (: **

* * *

******May** 6th 2006: Before lunch

When the alarm clock woke Mike he didn't feel rested – at all. Despite sleeping okay the butterflies in his stomach were fluttering around. He was finally going to meet the Cullens and the pack today - for real. He was to be at Bella's in an hour to pick her up. He supressed a yawn and made his way downstairs to find some food. His parents were at the store and he was happy to be alone with his thoughts.

Mulling over what Bella had revealed to him about the Cullens and the pack on a rainy afternoon a while back. His first thought was she made fun of him and played him or there was on hidden camera. However if the information she gave him then didn't sink in, it certainly did after meeting Bella yesterday. She had texted him about doing homework together. It became apparent almost from the beginning he set his feet in her house, there was no homework to be done. Instead Bella told him an amazing story with more details than the last time she brushed the subject of the Cullens and the boys in La Push.

He still found it surreal that vampires and shape shifters actually existed in real life. It was almost as being on one of the terrible supernatural dramas on television. He was slowly coming to terms with vampires and shape shifters were very much real because they were important to Bella. He would readily admit any day that he was head over heels in love with the had stirred some feelings in him Jessica never came close to. He had harboured a crush on her from the first time he ever saw her at Forks High when she just had moved to the town – which he thought almost seemed like a thousand years ago. He knew from what Bella previously had told him that her relationship with the Cullens had cooled considerably down since they came back and now he understood why. It was throughly creepy watchting other people sleep without their knowledge, equally creepy was the fact Edward crawled in and out of her bedroom as he pleased - and he finally learned of Edward's stalkerish tendencis. Holy hell, he didn't understand how Bella coped with that. In was beyond his comprehension how Edward had treated her! In his mind he didn't deserve Bella at all.

What made him most happy about the whole thing was he finally would get to know the whole truth and that Bella wasn't keeping anymore secrets. He hoped the Cullens would enlighten him in how they became vampires because Bella had been adamant that is wasn't her story to tell likewise she dismissed his questions about imprinting and who was imprinted on whom among the shape shifters. He had patiently waited a long time to hear this and in his opinion it was better late than never.

Mike was curious about meeting the Cullens officially, well he had met them before in school, at his parent's store and in the grocery store, but he had never really talked to any of them. Honestly he had always found them intimidating because of how flawless they looked and acted. Now he knew the reasons behind their attitude and looks he couldn't really be angry at them, he actually felt a little sorry for them because of their undead life. It couldn't be fun living forever? Or could it? The envy he had felt looking at them was gone because Bella had made it clear she appriciated him just the way he was - and he got the girl both Jake and Edward had been in love with.

He would be lying if he wasn't uneasy when Bella went off to the Cullens by herself because he didn't trust Edward one bit. However he did trust her when she said there was nothing between her and Edward anymore. It had ended a long time ago and she wasn't interested in him. He had decided to give her the benefit of doubt. Lost in thought he nearly fell from his seat when his cell phone vibrated next to him. He picked it up and realized he was going to be late. He quickly answered the text he had received from Ben, replying he had plans all day.

* * *

10 minutes later he arrived at Bella's. Not to his surprise she was already standing outside her house. He didn't even have the chance to cut the engine before she was sitting next to him with two travelling cups of coffee in hand. He leaned over and gave her a kiss. They both lingered a little longer than necessary in silence. Mike had picked up she was as nervous as him.

The ride was done in silence as well and it was just before he turned down a dirtroad at Bella's instructions she broke the silence inquiring, "Are you nervous?"

Mike shrugged and admitted, "A little…"

Bella reached over at put her hand over his on the gearshift, "Honestly I am too and I'm more comfortable around the pack..."

He returned her affection with a smile and couldn't help but agree with her.

Bella continued, "Remember what I told you about Edward?"

Mike didn't answer right away as he was lost in his thoughts, he didn't like the fact Edward could read his thoughts! He answered her question with a nod. He knew from their conversation that Alice and Jasper also possessed a power, Alice could see the future based on decisions other people made and Jasper was an empath.

They fell silent again. Mike wasn't surprised that they lived virtually in the middle of nowhere however he was surprised when he saw the house – or mansion was a more appropriate word to describe the house the Cullens lived in. It was standing in the middle of a clearing with thick forest close by and with a grassy field full of wildflowers in front of it. The only word that would give it justice was magnificent in Mike's opinion. He stole a glance at Bella and noticed an indifferent demeanour to the sight. He supposed it was because she had seen it so many times before however he was happy she hadn't withdrawn her hand from his during the ride. It made him feel more comfortable with the situation. He cut the engine.

Bella leaned over and gently kissed him, "It's going to be fine."

As they got out of the car they had to let go of each other. It was the only time he let go of her hand during the whole visit. He felt Bella gently pulling him with her toward the front door. It was only natural she took charge of the situation and rang the doorbell. While waiting for the door to be opened Mike felt her giving his hand a squeeze.

The door was opened by the big guy, Mike ransacked his brain for his name and came to the conclusion it only could be Emmett.

Emmett, this is Mike – my boyfriend, Bella said cheerfully.

He extended the hand to Emmett who carefully took it. Emmett showed them inside and let them upstairs to the living room. Mike was amazed how beautiful everything was inside and out. He really didn't want to admit it, but the Cullens had good taste.

Mike looked around and saw seven pairs of golden eyes looking at him. Emmett immediately went to the blond woman. Bella officially introduced him to the rest of the Cullens and gently pulled him to the armchair. He took a seat and Bella sat on the armrest close enough to rub soothing circles on his hand.

Mike felt Edward studying him, possibly trying to read his mind. However Mike was prepared and did his best to hide his thoughts from Edward. Mike didn't like how he stared at them and pulled Bella a little closer. She was only happy to oblige.

* * *

Lunch was approaching rapidly and they had made plans with the Pack in La Push. Mike was going to the famous bonfire as a way of meeting everyone officially. Bella looked at her watch and frowned a little while biting her lower lip.

"Well, i hate to be impolite, but we have to be in La Push in an hour for lunch", Bella told them.

Mike nodded in agreement, "It was finally nice to meet you all, you know for real?"

"Yes, it certainly was" Carlisle agreed, "It's not impolite and I think we are done for now."

Esme beamed, "Bella, you and Mike are always welcome despite everything that happened"

"Thanks", Bella sincerely said.

Emmett got up from the couch and walked them to the door.

"Oh before you go…" Alice came bouncing down the stairs, "I forgot to tell you, we are going dress shopping for the Prom on Thursday with Angela and Leah."

Mikelooked at his girlfriend looked puzzled at his girlfriend when she groaned at the thought.

It was Emmett who whispered to Mike why Bella dreaded the outing. Mike hid a little smile and knew how to make the situation a little more bearable for her.

* * *

They had a trip of approximately 25 minutes ahead of them and while driving they made casually conversation.

"They weren't that bad, were they? Bella curious asked.

Mike shifted gear and shook his head, "No they weren't – still think Edward is a little creepy…"

Bella laughed and quickly agreed with him.

"Though I noticed something about Rosalie & Emmett and Alice & Jasper…"

"Yeah?".

"Rosalie and Jasper are so serious and almost never smiles. I know Jasper is an empath and probably is bombarded with other people's feelings every day. Their stories are equally tragic when you think of it. Rosalie was raped and left for dead by her fiancé and Jasper fought in the Civil War, which by the way is very impressive in my opinion!" Mike said thoughtful.

"What about Alice and Emmett?", Bella asked while resting her hand on his.

"Alice has an equally tragic backstory as Rosalie and Jasper, the difference is she had done a 180, she is happy-go-lucky and fun loving in her new life. In regards of Emmett he is just a big goofball." Mike explained.

They fell silent for a while.

"Perhaps, you're right", Bella finally said, "It's actually an interesting theory you have come off with. Some say after being turned you retain some of the personality you had when you were human. The opposite most happen as well."


	13. Answers Pt II

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:  
**

* * *

**May **6th 2006: After lunch

Mike turned down the gravel road that signaled they crossed the border to La Push. The butterflies in his stomach were not as lively as they had been before meeting with the Cullens. One reason was probably that he had met them before in other forms like school. Still, it was something else what would pass away today. Today he would finally get to satisfy his curiosity about what Jacob and his friends really were despite him knowing about them being shapeshifters. He was curious about how they changed, what they looked like and what imprinting really were - and he had an idea that Bella knew it, but would not spoil anything since Bella has a subtle smile on her lips. He was completely absorbed in his thoughts, he almost missed the way to The Black's residence, at the last minute he turned.

"Caught up in your mind? Huh? Bella said with a small laugh.

"Yeah, something like that ..."

Bella shook her head, "Don't worry: You know them. They know you. Nothing to be nervous about"

Mike glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, "Well, It's easy for you to say!"

Bella shrugged, "If I told you what was going to happen, I would spoil it!"

Mike grumbled, "Why do you keep torturing me?"

Bella sent him a dazzling smile, "Because I can?"

He didn't respond to her last comment instead he sensed Bella putting her hand on his thigh and then started rubbing soothing circles. He began to get the feeling that he could handle whatever was going to happen as long as Bella was at his side.

Before he knew it they had arrived at the Black residence. He put the car in park. He reached over pulling her into a kiss. Locking his blue eyes with her brown he knew everything would be all right as long as he had her with him. They both got out of the car and looked at each other over the roof of the car. Their moment was ruined when they heard a noise and both turned to see Jake come barreling through the door. He engulfed Bella in an Emmett like bear hug. Ever since Mike had figured out Angela and Jake was a couple he wasn't worried about Bella and Jake's friendship. However if asked if he trusted Edward, he would answer with a no! Jake released Bella and extended his hand to Mike who took it.

"Has Angela arrived yet?" Bella asked out of breath.

"Yeah, she's down at the beach with the others", Jacob offered, "I promised Sam to take you there since we're going a little further up the beach than we're used to"

Mike and Bella exchanged a puzzling look and followed Jake fingers intertwined.

Some fifteen minutes later they arrived at the beach. Mike smelled salt mixed with different flowers which the wind carried from the hinterland. They had been there less than thirty seconds before Mike was being pulled into a hug by Angela. She dragged him to the blankets which were laid out close to a pile of logs. Mike knew they were having a bonfire later, that much he had been able to drag out of Bella.

He looked back and caught Bella's eye. She was talking to Embry absorbed in a conversation. He couldn't hear what it was about, in the end he really didn't care. He trusted Bella and knew these people and Charlie were more her family than the Cullens had ever been. It was different being here without the other kids from Forks and he actually liked it. He sensed he got to see the persons behind the mask because they didn't even care what they said to each other. He always had a feeling they wagered every word they said before expressing their opinions. Today was a rare sunny day and Mike could see they took the opportunity to enjoy it. Some were swimming in the sea; others were playing with the football while the girls soaked in the sun on the blankets. The butterflies were still fluttering around in his stomach; however they had calmed down a bit. He happily accepted the soda Angela offered him. He felt as Bella sat down next to him and stroke up a conversation with Angela and Emily about their meeting with the Cullens.

Mike was once again pulled from his thoughts, when Angela curiously asked, "What do you think about them?

He took his time to answer, "Honestly?"

He sent Bella a side glance as if he needed to get her permission to speak his true opinion. He was rewarded when she leaned over and kissed him. She pulled away from him with a smile which was enough of an encouragement, "I think they are weird. I mean – eh – they are so perfect? I guess the right word is? It's not hard to see why people fall in love with them…however now I know their true nature I don't think I find them as appealing as I did before..."

Both Angela and Emily nodded, understanding his reasoning. This closed the subject to everyone's relief.

* * *

Darkness descended upon First Beach in La Push. It was a beautiful night with stars shining bright. The wind was almost still even though they were close to the ocean. Everyone gathered on the shivered a little and pulled the blanket a little closer watching as the bonfire was lit. He felt Bella sit down next to him with two mugs in each hand. He relieved her from one of them and shared his blanket with her.

"Thanks." He felt the warmth enter his body and instinctively pulled Bella a little closer.

"You're welcome. You looked a little cold" Bella smiled before taking a sip of her hot cocoa.

They fell silent just enjoying being in the moment before Mike whispered to Bella, "It's beautiful"

"Yeah it is. Something about the atmosphere – it's almost solemn." Bella responded in an equally hushed voice.

With seconds ticked by Mike's expectations raised to new highs. Bella had been vasive every time he tried to ask her what happened at these bonfires. He could see Bella brown eyes shining in the light of the orange flames. They were waiting for Billy Black - that was about all the information he had gotten out of Bella. Billy was the chief of the tribe in La Push and because this was a formal bonfire certain rituals had to be followed Bella had explained to him earlier.

He was rudely interrupted in his musings when Sam announced Billy's arrival.

* * *

It was getting late when Billy finished telling the legends. The bonfire was dying down, but the stars remained shining. People started to scatter and pack everything up. When everyone left the beach were the mood was still very - how could he describe it? He couldn't and thus decided to chalk it up to the atmosphere. In the end it didn't really matter. All that mattered was how he got the last pieces of the puzzles together to a final picture whether it was the Cullens story or the story Billy Black had told him tonight. Mike got the reason behind Angela's sudden break up with Ben and Tyler's evasive behaviour towards Lauren. To say he was stunned with the revelations was an understatement even though Bella had told him most of it. He was very much amazed how Bella had guarded the secrets so well. It must not have been easy it dawned to him and he was surer than ever that Bella had pushed the Cullens and the Pack to let him in on the secrets. However he kind of understood why she had to ask for permission to do so. It was heavy stuff and his head was spinning. Once again he felt like being in a supernatural TV-show or a book and he kind of expected to wake up and find everything that had happened being a dream. He was purposely falling behind the others on the walk from the beach which Bella respected.

"A penny for your thoughts?" Angela asked with a smile playing on her lips.

Mike nearly jumped out of his skin looking a little flustered being interrupted in his thoughts, "Just thinking how this have to be a dream"

Angela sent him an apologetic look, "Didn't mean to scare you! Need a pinch in the arm?"

Mike suddenly stopped staring wide-eyed at her, "Would you mind?"

Angela shook her head with a slight smile and reached over to pinch his arm.

"Oww! Definitely not a dream!" Mike exclaimed while rubbing his arm, "Well, now we established this. How did you deal when you learned of the imprint? I'm freaking out, but you must have had it way worse since no one imprinted on me…"

Angela furrowed her brows looking thoughtful at him, "I – guess – I - had Bella? Don't know? But she was tremendous help to me. She could answer some things I didn't want to ask Jake about. The Pack and the other imprints really accepted me like they have accepted Bella. Use her to understand, she's stronger than she look like both physically and mentally."

Mike nodded in understanding, "We should probably get going before anyone starts to worry"

"Yeah, we should" Angela agreed, "But Mike, if you ever need to talk about all this - and if..." She paused, "You have any questions you're aren't comfortable asking Bella, you can always come to me..."

Nothing more was needed to be said between them and they quickly caught up with the others. Mike slipped his hand into Bella's and was rewarded with dazzling smile.


	14. A Very Weird Trip

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

******May **9th 2006

As promised on the Sunday before Alice had called Bella day before to arrange the details of their trip to Port Angeles. Bella knew neither the Cullens nor the Pack were about happy the event. Alice had been adamant that both Bella and Angela would be allowed to celebrate the Prom. The solution was found with much growling and snarling the two fractions between. None of them were really happy, but Emmett of all people trying to smooth things over said, they had to cut a toe and pick a heel. This was the reason why Bella and Angela sat in the back of Leah's car. Bella lost herself in deep thoughts since the silence in the car was thick and ice cold.

In addition Bella knew that Jacob didn't trust either Leah or Alice. He didn't trust Leah because of her volatile mood swings and he didn't trust Alice because of their natural enmity. It didn't help the feeling was somewhat mutual because the Cullens didn't trust either Leah or the Pack. Bella was told that Leah had to come on the trip because she was the only female shape shifter and Emily or one of the other imprints wouldn't be of much help if Victoria attacked. In addition to the bodyguards consisting of Alice and Leah; Jake, Edward and Rosalie were lurking in the shadows while Embry and Seth, and Emmett and Esme respectively watched over Charlie and Mike. In the meantime Carlisle, Jasper, Paul and Sam would refine their plan to take down Victoria the weekend after the Prom. The rest the Pack were to run patrols around Forks and La Push with the treaty unofficially abolished until they captured her.

Furthermore to complicate the situation neither Bella nor Angela had really been alone with Leah at all. Sure, they had been together at the bonfires in La Push or when there was a meeting about the situation with Victoria, but that was very different! In addition Bella had never warmed or gotten used to the idea of having Leah as a stepsister. Bella thought bitterly how easy it would have been if it had been only Seth and Sue who had come into the family!

She was pulled from her thoughts by someone was whistling a happy tune. It took her a couple of seconds finding out it was Leah who made the sound. Bella and Angela secretly exchanged a look because it was a stark contrast to how she had behaved when she picked them up after the last bell.

* * *

Bella and Angela hurried to their lockers when the bell signaled school was out for the day. They were to meet Leah at the parking lot at Forks High. On the way out of the school Bella groaned at the thought of having to be a living Barbie doll Alice could play with for her enjoyment like she had done before when she and Edward had been together.

"It would be worse if we were looking dresses for the Prom with Jessica!" Angela said while she quirked an eyebrow at Bella.

Jessica had cornered them just before lunch asking if they would like go with her and Lauren. Bella sighed again when presented the alternative to Alice. It was like getting caught between the devil and the deep blue sea!

When they entered the parking the rain was pouring down. It was almost like God had opened the floodgates in heaven despite the calendar saying it was May.

"Why does it always rain?" Bella grumbled to herself while trying to evade the raindrops.

Angela pretended she didn't hear her instead concentrating on running to the car without being soaked.

"Hey!" Leah said in an unusual chipper voice which baffled the two others more than it was raining in May.

"Why the good mood?" Angela asked curiously.

Leah gave her a look which essentially said that it didn't concern her, "Get in!"

Bella and Angela exchanged a look, but thought it was best to comply. They both agreed that she was far more frightening than Paul. Bella thought to herself she would never admit to be more afraid of her than Victoria. So they sat in the car without a murmur.

"Where is Alice?" Angela looked around without finding what she was looking for.

Leah responded in a gruff voice, "She's meeting us in Port Angeles since it's not really known her and the Cullens are back." With that she started the engine and they were off.

* * *

The memory faded and Bella was back in reality. Angela poked her arm and they silently looked confused at Leah. Angela and Bella thus started a staring competition to see who was going to ask Leah why she was whistling. Bella lost competition and hesitantly asked, "Does it have anything to do with Tyler?"

Leah caught Bella's eyes in in the rearview mirror and nodded, but comepletly ignored Angela much to the latters dismay. However Bella exchanged a glance with Angela and hid a smile. Everyone knew that Leah had imprinted on him. Which certainly benefited the people surrounding her because her mood swings was not nearly as volatile as they were before. Furthermore almost everyone knew she also had a reason to go to Port Angeles apart from being a bodyguard for Angela. Tyler had asked if she would be his date to the Prom at Forks High and to everyone's surprise she had accepted without throwing a tantrum.

As they approached Port Angeles Leah drove into a rest stop where Alice was waiting. She quickly slid into the passenger seat next to Leah. Bella noticed that both Alice and Leah wrinkled their noses a little; it was almost an invisible gesture. Deep down Bella still questioned why she really wanted to playing Bella Barbie with Alice. Why had she tolerated the game in the first place? Bella let out an inaudible sigh. However during the last weeks since the Cullens had reappeared she had come to terms with what Edward did and by proxy what everyone did. She had meant every word said to Alice about forgiving her and why she really didn't held a grudge against her.

Alice, ever the optimist said, "It's going to be fun! Do not you guys think?"

The other three didn't support her in that sentiment and Alice wisely rested her case. Bella in fact had the feeling that Leah and Angela weren't really interested in clothing like her.

Fifteen minutes later Leah parked the car not far from the store. They all got out of the car starting to walk to the store. Alice could barely content her happiness of being allowed to play Bella Barbie much to Bella's dismay. Bella shuddered while watching as Alice happily skipped a head of them. She didn't look forward to the next couple of hours!

* * *

It was late afternoon before Bella, Leah and Angela had found the perfect dress to wear for the Prom. Bella was exhausted after spending nearly three hours in and out of the dressing rooms trying on different dresses. However in the end Bella was satisfied with her choice and looking around she saw a faint smile on Leah's lips indicating she had found the perfect dress as well.

Jake was leaning against Leah's car in the parking lot waiting for Angela.

"Keys" Jake growled at Leah.

Leah looked like she was going to rip him to pieces, but managed to contain her anger enough to give him the keys with gritted teeth. She slowly opened her mouth, "How am I supposed to get home?"

Jake looked grimly at her and said in a strained voice, "I suppose you could run home. I need to be with my imprint!"

Angela looked nervously at the confrontation from behind her boyfriends back turning whiter with every moment passing. Bella was sorry she couldn't do anything to comfort Angela, but like her friend Bella was pushed behind Alice in fear of a full blown battle between Jake and Leah. It never came to it since they luckly were interrupted by Tyler and Ben.

Tyler immidately read the course of the tension while for obvious reasons Ben remained oblivious to the danger he potentinally was in.

Tyler made a move towards Leah, "What's going on?" He send Jake a look filled with venom.

Leah shrugged, "I suppose you're friend", she pointed at Ben with a stiff finger, "Can find his way home"

Tyler didn't get to answer and before anyone could have counted to ten they had left in Tyler's car._  
_

Jake and Alice slowly relaxed while Angela and Bella exchanged a confused look.

"What the hell just happend?" Ben was more confused than ever.

Nobody offered him an answer to his question. "Maybe you could take him home?" Bella suggested Jake, "Since his ride just ditched him..."

Ben didn't answer because he was busy studying Angela and Jake. However Jake slowly nodded to both Angela and Bella's relief.

"Well it's getting late..." Alice said, "I should probably take you home, Bella. Don't you have to meet...?" she trailed off.

"Yeah, I do."

They quickly said goodbye to the three others hoping no one would be dead upon arrival in Forks.

"So, how do we get home?" Bella inquired tiredly walking beside the pixie. Bella's feet hurt and she was looking forward to the footmassage Mike had promised her. She had endured an afternoon that easily could have been hell she sourly thought. It was the main reason why she hadn't offered a ride to Ben.

Alice pointed to a car some rows down. Bella followed Alice finger and saw a silver Volvo. Alice hauled Bella along to the car; upon seeing Bella turn white as a sheet, she soothing said, "Don't worry, Edward just left the car."

Bella looked skeptically at Alice forcing the latter to elaborate, "The mutt…no I'm sorry, Jacob found it important that Angela didn't spend more time with – eh – especially me, that's why he came to get her. It was the best solution; I just hadn't counted on Leah reacting that badly upon seeing Angela and Jake. I can't see their descions - it all - kind of blank? It must have triggered something seeing them happily together"

"Maybe she missed Tyler? Bella offered with a knowing smile.

Alice looked thoughtfully, "Perhaps..."

Bella struggled to keep her emotions at bay while her thoughts ran a mile in a minute, but knew Alice already had picked up on her predicament.

"You don't trust me enough to let me drive you home" Alice stated matter of factly.

She blanched a little at Alice direct way of dealing with things; the only thing she was able to was nodding.

"My assumption was accurate. I had seen this coming..." Alice was trying to hide a sad smile, "Emmett's on his way. I'm staying with you until he comes."

Merely ten minutes later Emmett arrived engulfing Bella in his trademark bear hug.

"Emmett! Can't breathe! Human!"

"Your carriage await, my lady!" he jokingly said while bowing.

Bella tried to conceal the relief she felt upon seeing him while trying to catch her breath again. Before responding to Emmett's antics she turned to Alice, "Thanks for today. It was nice hanging out with you after all this time." She took a deep breath and continued, "Thanks for letting me choose my own dress! That made me really happy despite being forced to play Bella Barbie."

Bella looked at Alice who would have cried if she could, but instead Bella was pulled into a quick hug by Alice. Before she knew it Emmett and she were alone in the parking lot. Emmett opened the door for her and sped around the car sliding into the driver's seat. They drove in comfortable silence on the highway in direction of Forks.

As they neared Bella's house Emmett broke the silence, "You know, she understand why you don't trust her - yet."

Bella looked startled at him and after a thoughtful moment she nodded.

Emmett continued in a serious voice, "She's still beating herself up – you know how she was manipulated by Edward to leave you – and the fact Esme and I were the only ones putting up some resistance when she was meant to be your best friend."

"Well, I know." Bella stated and quickly continued before he could interrupt her, "I've forgiven all of you like I said before. I know she's beating herself up. Not my fault. She knows I'm in the process of trusting all of you again. You all hurt me - bad!"

"Yeah, we did." Emmett agreed, "Why did you lash onto me?"

Tears were starting to form in her brown eyes and she was on the wedge of letting out, "I-I think you were the one that – ehm – hurt me the least. And you've always been like a big brother to me. I knew you wouldn't hurt me on purpose like maybe Jasper, Rosalie – I'm sorry, I know you're married to her and all - and Edward."

Emmett cut in, "None taken! Rosalie can be tough at times…"

Bella bit her lower lip and nodded, "What mattered the most were the fact you tried to resist with Esme when Edward came up with the plan of moving. Alice was not surprisingly, easier to sway because of her attachment to Jasper, I think…"

"Yeah you're probably right in that sentiment", Emmett murmured, "All they have are each other. Both had a hard start on the undead life..."

Emmett made a turn and her house came into view. She saw Mike's car in her driveway with that her spirits tremendously lifted. Emmett offered her a hankerchif which she grateful accepted. She quickly dried her eyes, blew her nose and found her things.

He put the car into park and she opened the car door, "Thanks for the talk."

"No it's me who has to say thank you. Happy I'm in your good graces", he said winking at her.

The old Emmett was back she thought, and thanked heaven for that. The talk had started to make her feel a little queasy and unsettling because it was so unlike him being so serious or maybe it was just because she was hungry? She didn't really care and said goodnight to him in a chipper voice and made her way to the front door - to Charlie and Mike. The two most important men in her life. She smiled to herself at the thought and opened the door.


	15. The Prom Pt I

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

******May **11th 2006

Bella was pacing back and forth with butterflies fluttering in her stomach. Why was she nervous about a stupid dance? She smoothed her dress over with her hands. She knew it was stupid, it was just a dance. No matter how many times she repeated it in her head she still had qualms about going public with her relationship with Mike. She actually liked it being low key. No pressure on how to act around other people because they could play it off as close friends. It was actually a big accomplishment to their keep their relationship hidden from their peers at Forks High. The rumor mill had been in overdrive since she had come out of her zombie phase a good two month earlier. She had to pull herself together because both Charlie and Mike could be here any minute. However on the other hand she was excited to see how people would react to the news - especially Jessica who still tried getting Mike's attention even though he basically had given her the cold shuouler.

She frowned a little while looking at her watch noting Charlie was late. He had been adamant, he could both - being on duty as he was the chief of Police in Forks and being Bella's father who was seeing his baby girl off to the Prom. It was only naturally he was on duty tonight being the senior officer and all. Both Charlie and Bella were happy with their new found relationship she would let him take the mandatory pictures.

She continued her pacing thinking she was happy declining Alice's suggestion of getting dressed at the Cullen residence. She was perfectly happy and content doing it by herself – thank you very much! She sighed again while letting a hand go through her hair. It was another reason why she liked Angela, she never imposed or made Bella do things she didn't want to do. Instead they were going to meet outside Forks High and enter the Prom together. She was interrupted in her thoughts by rustling outside the front door.

"Bella? Are you still here?" Charlie called out while closing the door behind him.

She quickly answered him in a chipper voice to cover up how startled she had been, "Yeah. How's the weather?"

Charlie found a towel in the kitchen, "As you can see it's bad. I hope you have an umbrella!" He chuckled a little, "Or maybe Mike's bringing one?"

Bella wasn't sure what to say to in return. Instead she sincerely said, "I'm happy you can be here. I-I know we aren't the best to talk about our feelings – and stuff like that. It just…means a lot to me."

Charlie looked happy, "I'm glad to be here too, kid. Never thought I would...be the one seeing you off to the Prom. Always thought it would be Renee who got – you know – the honor…" He trailed off.

Bella blushed a little, "So – have you found the camera?"

He proudly padded his pocket indicating it was there, "It never left my pocket since this morning, and I wanted to make sure I wouldn't forget where I put it!"

Bella was about to answer when they heard a knock on the door.

* * *

They locked eyes for a millisecond before Charlie went to answer the door. She was happy the two most important men in her life initially got along. They both had an interest in football which helped immensely in the process of bonding. Bella had spent many evenings after Charlie found out about them cooped up on the couch next to Mike reading a book while Mike and Charlie watched a game after dinner. From where Bella stood in the kitchen she could hear the exchange between her father and boyfriend.

"Good evening, sir" Mike said nervously. Even though Charlie had told him to call him by his first name it never caught on. Mike always apologized when it was brought up that it was a force of habit.

"Good evening" Charlie smiled at stepped aside letting Mike in, "Terrible weather?"

Mike nodded closing his umbrella and stepping inside.

"Bella's in the kitchen" Charlie informed him dryly.

Bella just hoped Charlie wasn't going back on his word scaring the hell out of Mike with "if you hurt my daughter" routine. She had told him it was getting old and very much cliché saying such things. The response she had gotten from him had been a mumble about something like that he would never do. She had taken it as a sign he wasn't going to it. She went to meet them in the living room.

As she reached them she could see Mike's jaw drop. She sent him a dazzling smile and asked, "What do you think?"

Mike was at loss for words starting to fidgeting with his tie – much to Charlie's amusement – and after a while managed to stammer, "You look brilliant, Bells!"

Oddly enough she didn't care he used Charlie and Jacob's pet name for her. In fact she kind of liked it. She spun around careful not to crash into anything much to the two men's enjoyment. The air was radiating with love from all three people in the room. Mike had gone all in and bought her one of these awful corsages. However Bella didn't care and actually found that she liked the thing on her wrist. In fact both it and Mike matched her dress in colors perfectly which was midnight blue.

"Let's get this over with" Charlie clapped his hands with joy.

Bella and Mike exchanged a look and posed as Charlie asked them to do. He got around ten pictures of them.

"Well, we should go…" Bella said with a brilliant smile and Mike nodded in agreement.

For the first time - ever - Charlie didn't hide his tears when Bella hugged him. When she pulled back from the embrace her eyes were wet with tears as well.

Charlie managed to say through all these emotions flowing through him, "Have a great time! We have to remember sending some pictures to your mother and Phil. She would probably kill me if we don't..."

Bella nodded in agreement and thoughtfully said, "I'll attach some next time I write to her."

With these words she was helped into her jacket by Mike. Charlie followed them to the door and before she closed it she blew him a kiss.

The rain had stopped and thus they weren't in need of Mike's umbrella after all.

* * *

They didn't talk on the way to Forks High. Bella sensed, Mike knew how intense the last few minutes with her dad had been. She was happy they knew when well enought to know when the other just needed to be left alone. Instead she had her hand firmly placed on his. She felt content being with him and she didn't feel like she had to say something every time silence fell upon them. In fact the silence wasn't embarrassing anymore – it was way past that stadium – now it was just relieving because there was no pressure. A pressure she had always felt with Edward. She shook these thoughts away when Mike squeeze her hand indicating they had reached their destination.

They had decided to arrive late to have more of an audience when they revealed their secret. Thus there was hustling and bustling around and in Forks High. Everyone was of course excited and happy. People were laughing and joking. Girls had spent money on new dresses and shoes. Their hair and makeup perfect. Boys had found their suits in the back of their closets and dusted them off. They found dates.

Bella knew the rumor mill had been filled over the last few weeks with gossip of who was going with who - and who had been turned down. However she didn't really care. She fondly smiled to herself because she had her date secured ever since becoming a couple. However she and Mike had laughed a little when he had confided in her how furious Jessica had been when he turned her down. Smoke was almost coming out of her ears. She had in turn shared how Ben and Eric had asked her and she had let them both down gently. It had been heartbreaking for her to turn especially Ben down since she knew how alone he must feel. Angela and Tyler had disappeared to La Push in their spare time without giving any explanations. Jessica and Lauren who really weren't friends with anyone expect themselves. This left Mike and she had been very absent due to work. At least he had Eric. She silently wondered who Jessica, Ben and Eric had asked instead. Oh well, she'd find out soon enough.

Once again she was pulled from her thoughts when Jake called them over. Hugs and hellos were given in a haze. Soon the four found themselves at the entrance to the gym where the Prom was in full swing. The Prom committee had decided the theme was the universe and therefore had decorated it with stars, planets, the moon and the sun. They looked in awe and were all rendered speechless. It was Jake who finally found the power to walk into gym and Angela guickly followed him.

Bella and Mike hung back a little while longer in the shadows. "Ready?" Mike asked taking her hand.

She looked up at him and nodded. The butterflies were huge and fluttering wildly in her stomach and something told her she wasn't the only one. They both took a deep breath entering the room hand in hand, fingers laced together.

**AN: Okay, I've never been good at describing dresses or suits like so many other fanfictions writers. I'll just ask to bear with me and imagine whatever Bella and Mike is wearing.**

**To the Guest who reviwed chapter 4: Why do you even review if you don't like Mike? I would advise you to leave constructive criticism instead of that rant...Secondly might I suggest you find a story where Mike is treated badly by the fanfiction writer. I like obviously like him as a character :) Stephenie Meyer doesn't know what it's like to be teenager because Mike behave like one in the books oppsed to Edward and Jacob...  
**


	16. The Prom Pt II

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (: I have rewritten the last four chapters.  
**

* * *

******May**11th 2006

**JPOV**

Jessica felt a nudge in her ribs. She looked questioningly at Lauren who pointed to the entrance of the gym. What Jessica saw made her heart sink to the floor. Why did it hurt so much? She bitterly thought while rudely staring at the happy couple. All the signs had been there for weeks. Until now she had seen Mike's infuriation with Bella as something…she couldn't find the words. She had always thought that in the end he would come back to her. Yes she had been very furious when he turned her down. Before Bella had arrived in Forks everything had been perfect. She had a perfect boyfriend, great friends. But now? The rumor mill was filled with gossip about their little group of now seven people. She continued her inner rant, the balance was completely screwed up and she solely blamed Bella! The group of friends was split into a million pieces. Angela and Tyler running around La Push doing God know what. Eric and Ben were miserable? Wait when did she care about them? She shuddered a little; Bella had taken Mike from her.

She was pulled from her thoughts when Lauren nudged her again, "What?"

"Just thought you might like to know they are coming over" Lauren shrugged, "Why do I even care?" She stalked off.

Before Jessica could answer she was standing face to face with the happy couple. Love was radiating from her. She just wished she had a barf bag!

"You and the Prom Committee did great" Bella said while biting her lower lip.

Jessica had observed that Bella always did this when she was nervous, "Thanks. I guess…" she trailed off.

She never felt this insecure in her whole life. She envied Bella for having Mike and she knew that they knew it. And the silence was thick with awkwardness.

Mike breaking the awkward silence that had fell upon them, "You look great tonight, Jess."

She curved her lips a little, "Thanks. Will you ex…"

Jessica was rudely cut off by Lauren who had returned, "Tyler is here with that Native American woman!"

The three looked startled at her shaking out of their own problems for a minute. Before anyone could say anything Lauren continued with a scoff, "Can you believe it, Jess? He dumps me for THAT piece of…"

Jessica rolled her eyes, "Didn't you go out with Ben? Isn't HE your date for the Prom? Why do you care who Tyler is with? You kind of never gave him the time of day."

If looks could kill then Jessica was sure she would have been dead by now.

Lauren huffed, "Yeah so what? A girl is allowed to change mind, right?

The only thing Jessica could was shaking her head, "I guess. Perhaps you should have acted upon your feelings sooner?"

"I suppose that's one way of looking at it", Lauren snarled, "It's not like you are faring any better!"

Oh no was the first thought that popped into Jessica's mind. Instead of answering she took Lauren by the arm and dragged her to the hallway where incidentally they ran into Ben, who was sulking big time over the fact Angela had come to the Prom with Jake.

* * *

BPOV

In the same moment Bella and Angela made it out of the ladies room where they had reapplied their makeup and talked a little about Mike and Jake. They both stopped dead in their tracks upon seeing Lauren, Jessica and Ben arguing in the hallway.

"Is there any chance they haven't seen us" Angela whispered to Bella.

Bella bit her lower lip and shook her head, "Might as well get it over with."

Bella had already sensed another confrontation in group was in the melting pot. The meeting earlier with Jessica by the punch bowl had made her surer in the assumption because the "truce" had been very false. However she was adamant that she wouldn't take the first step.

It was Jessica who launched the first attack, "Are you happy you finally got him?" She directed the question towards Bella.

Bella was about to answer when she felt a presence beside her, "She didn't get me" Mike answered in a gruff voice.

Jessica looked like he had hit her, and was starting to form a reply when she was rudely cut off by Lauren who had her eyes fixed at Mike, "How dare you treat Jess like that? She had never been anything but nice to you."

Mike seethed at her words, "Nice to me? She has been a pain in my ass ever since I took an interest in some else who wasn't her. She really is a sore loser!"

Jessica looked hurt and gob smacked at him. Silently Bella jumped for joy because she agreed with Mike 100 % on this one.

"What's going on?" Tyler had been drawn because of the loud voices. He had just stepped outside for some fresh air and thus interrupted Mike.

Lauren fixed her eyes at him and said in a dismissal tone, "It doesn't concern you…since you decided to hang out with that bitch."

"Oh my! You're jealous. Aren't you?" Tyler licked his lips and shook his head, "If you had played your cards right, Lauren. You would have noticed that I was head over heels in love with you!"

"We always want what we can't have!" Bella cut in.

Ignoring Bella, Tyler continued in a smug tone, "Now the green monster is eating you up from the inside. Welcome to my world! This was exactly how I felt when you started to locking lips with the love struck idiot over there." He made a gesture towards Ben.

Now Ben felt compelled to speak up, "What in the world gives you the right to call me an idiot? And I'm not love struck!"

Tyler narrowed his eyes and was about to speak, but was hindered in doing so by Angela.

"I think what he means it, Lauren and you are using each other to make me and him jealous" she trailed off, "Which might I add aren't working since both of us are in a great relationships with those native kids your calling them, right Tyler?"

In response Tyler just nodded, "I think I'm going to find Leah and go home. What do you say?"

Angela nodded, but didn't leave before hugging both Bella and Mike with a promise of seeing them the next day. She quickly followed Tyler.

"Well then" Jessica's voice had raised an octave.

The three of them were the only ones left since Lauren and Ben had decided to call it a night – and further develop their fake relationship. Bella knew they were both raving mad at Angela and Tyler. Mike and Jessica were glaring daggers at each other.

"Bella and I are leaving." Mike stated in a harsh voice.

Bella looked sweetly at Jessica and gently said, "It's over between you and Mike. Get over it! Stop whatever you're doing. He isn't interested!"

There was a thinly veiled threat to what she had just said. Bella turned on her heel and left. Mike caught up with her and took her hand.

"You want to get out of here?"

Her only response was, "Thought you'd never ask!"

* * *

They hadn't spoken during the car ride back to her house. Charlie was still at work because as he had told her earlier. There was always trouble brewing in Forks, but especially on Prom night drunken teenagers and wild after parties was not a rare sight. They were lying close together on her bed in silence darkness surrounding them.

"Well, I guess that went well!" Bella dryly stated.

Mike let out a laugh and agreed with her, "It reminded me of the afternoon where we all were cooped up in the library for that English assignment"

"Yeah, it actually did" Bella let out a sigh, "I actually feel bad for Ben. The only thing he does wrong is loving Angela…"

Mike pulled her closer, "I know what you mean…I wish there were something we could to for him"

"Mm…but there isn't. We got our own problems with your stalker. She almost rival Edward…and that is a big accomplishment!"

"Don't worry about her. I'm were I want to be. With you, Bells." Shifting their position a little to make is easier to kiss her,

Between kisses she managed to say, "Yeah I'm right where I want to be as well. But could we just hold off with sex until Victoria is caught?"

"Why?"

"I find it rather creepy to do the deed with vampires listing in! Remember their good hearing? And smell! Emmett will never let me live this one down…" She was happy he couldn't see her blush because she was sure that was covering her face.

His mouth formed an O, "I understand." Shuddering a little he completely agreed with her.

"Do your parents expect you home tonight" Bella inquired innocently.

Mike was silent for a moment before reaching for his cell phone and typing a message to his mom, "They won't now…but will Charlie be okay with it?"

"He'll have to be" Bella said dryly pulling him down to a kiss. He managed to press the sent bottom on his cell phone before throwing it on the ground on top of his suit jacket and then he deepened the kiss.

**AN: Chapters 12 and 13 have undergone minor changes while 14 and 15 have undergone major changes. Oh I kind of forgot Eric existed – I don't know what to with him or how to write him. The last thing I'm going to say is: I suck at wrting arguments! And I feel the last ten chapters has suffered because I don't have a Beta :(  
**


	17. The Battle

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. ****Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**May 20th 2006**

Bella hated being outdoors, sitting on wet tree logs with her ex-boyfriend and soon to be step-brother. Bella shuddered at the thoughts. However nothing was to be done about this if the plan to take down Victoria should work. Her week had been a living hell so to speak. It had been stressful week and she barely had time to see Mike or doing her homework. She solely blamed Victoria on this misfortune. Luckily Angela, Mike and to some extent Tyler had been helpful in regards of homework assignments and the like. She was ecstatic about the fact she had caught up with all the assignments she had missed during her "zombie" period. She bitterly thought of how comfortable the three others were sitting in Emily's kitchen in La Push. Furthermore Mike had convinced his parents to let Bella cut down on her workload "Newton's Olympic Outfitters" because of her studying. Maybe it really did pay off dating the boss' son? She didn't know, but nevertheless she couldn't picture herself without him.

The silence was awkward and thick; you could almost hear a pin drop. Bella looked up at the sky. Despite the calendar told her it was May, the weather was almost fall like. The sky was grey with no hints of the sun and a cold breeze swept through the clearing and she pulled her jacket closer. Her feet were warm though since she got an almost human heater sitting on her feet. Seth sat on his hunches with his tongue hanging out of his mouth, obviously enjoying keeping her warm. It was weird since they were about to become step-siblings. She still preferred Seth to his sister, Leah. Although Leah had become somewhat more nice, after imprinting on Tyler. Bella nuzzled Seth's sandy colored fur and in return he happily licked her face. Even in wolf form Seth was his happy-go-lucky self; nothing seemed to waver this, Bella noted to herself.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Edward pinching the bridge of his nose looking concerned. She wondered if he was concerned about the upcoming battle, but decided not to intrude. Instead she looked around the clearing hoping Victoria soon would appear. She kept glancing at her watch and with every minute passing, the more nervous she got. She didn't like to admit it, but she was frightened of what Victoria would do her if she tricked the others, and Edward and Seth had to face her alone. Her worst fear was if they both became incapacitated. Oh well, they wouldn't be alone. She glanced at her watch again, thinking it was almost show time!

During the week they had caught Victoria's scent in Forks and La Push. That was the first sign of everything going as planned. The next sign was when Jasper and Emmett saw her lurking around Charlie's house on Wednesday. The third sign came when Jared caught a whiff of her at the treaty line. She was once again closing in. However instead of acting rash and unorganized like the shape shifters had done before; they now decided to lay low because they feared they would scare her off. Thus everything would be ruined.

Bella was pulled from her thoughts by Seth, who suddenly stood up growling. She noticed Edward coming closer to her and Seth. It was intricately how they communicated with each other because of Seth being in wolf form. Edward read Seth thoughts and relayed them to Bella like he had relayed every step of luring Victoria to the clearing. They had made sure to pair a wolf and a vampire up in the hunt for Victoria because cell phones were too inconvenient at the moment. They only slowed the communication down.

"Jasper and Sam are close" Edward said with concern, "Be ready, Victoria will be here soon"

Bella nodded and braced herself for the meeting with Victoria. Her knuckles were turning white because of the grip she had on Seth fur.

He continued, "Emmett and Jake are coming from the east side."

Bella could see Edward listening intense to Seth thoughts and the pictures.

"It's now!" Edward suddenly scooped her up in his arms and jumped into a tree with her.

From her place on the tree branch Bella could see Victoria emerging with Alice and a wolf with brown fur hot on her heels. Trying to escape from her pursuers she almost ran directly into the arms of Emmett and a wolf with russet fur. Evading them Victoria tried running towards the south only to be greeted by Jasper and a wolf with black fur. She quickly turned around and headed north where Rosalie and a small gray wolf were waiting. Victoria was getting angrier and angrier with every turn she made because she didn't seem to shake off her pursuers. With a resigned sigh Victoria had begun jumping from tree to tree realizing she would never stand the chance on the ground. The Cullens minus Edward were in hot pursuit. She made the mistake looking down and hesitating for a minute because before she knew it Alice pushed her off the branch. She landed in front of a wolf with gray fur and black spots. The wolf snarled at her and drew the attention of his pack mates who all descended upon her from all sides while the Cullens jumped down from the trees.

Bella looked down at the scene. Their plan had worked well until now and their organized attack seemed to have paid off in the end. They had spent a long time arguing back and forth on how to handle the situation. Finally it was decided to make Victoria running gauntlet between wolves and vampires until she would either become so frustrated with the whole situation that she would make a rash decision or simply figure out she was outnumbered and give up. Bella had never seen Victoria looking so scared. The wolves had completely cut off any escape routes and the Cullens guarded the ways out of the clearing. Before Bella knew of it Edward had grabbed her and jumped down from the tree effectively losing her train of thoughts in the process.

Victoria looked startled at the noise and her red eyes became pitch black when she saw Edward and Bella. Emmett and Jasper grabbed a hold on her and roughly made her stand up to face them.

"A mate for a mate!" Victoria seethed trying to wiggle herself out of Emmett and Jaspers grasps to no avail.

A collective snarling from the wolves was heard and Edward disgusted said, "You want to know something?"

"What!?" She venomously said while eyeing Bella from head to bottom.

A smug smile played on Edward's lips, "I didn't kill James. Emmett and Jasper did" pointing a her two captors, "Your sentiment about a mate for mate is bullshit"

Bella added in triumph, "And besides Ed-Edward and I aren't mates!"

The wolves howled in unison as if they were emphasizing her point.

This only made Victoria more determined to get away Jasper had subtly manipulated her emotions and made her attempts to escape futile.

"Any last words before I'm killing you?" Edward gleefully asked her.

Everyone who was present knew Victoria had finally given up. No escape routes and there was no chance in hell she was going to live.

Carlisle spoke for the first time, "Very well. I don't see why we postpone the inevitable"

Bella hid her head in the fur of nearest wolf which ironically sported a silver fur. He was only one of two wolves, which never took a liking to her. The other one was Leah.

"It's over" Esme gently said directed at Bella, "They're building a fire" gesturing to Carlisle, Jasper, Emmett and Edward.

Bella then literally threw herself into Esme's arms sobbing in relief. In a way everyone was relieved. Killing Victoria meant a chapter closing and another opening for Bella and the rest who was gathered in the clearing. The wolves retreated to the bushes phasing back to become humans.

"I've got an idea how we celebrate!" Alice said excited.

Jake who was the first to emerge looked skeptically at her, "How?"

"We're having a cookout at our house!" Alice continued with a bright smile.

While walking out of the woods Sam thoughtfully said, "Sounds like a good idea. If the others are game…"

He gestured to the pack that was emerging from the bushes clad in their signature shorts and bare-chested.

"I'm in!" Jared Said, "As long as the imprints are invited too."

Esme smiled, "Alice, that was a good idea – and of cause they are invited!"

"Mike too?" Bella inquired. There was no way she was going if he wasn't welcome. They were a couple now and he had understood why she couldn't share everything with him before even though she had almost put him in harm's way.

To Bella's surprise it was Rosalie who softly answered, "What do YOU think?"

"I take it as a yes, then?"

"Yeah" Rosalie stated with a smile playing on her lips, "He's like family to us like you are…"

Bella looked wide eyed at her and then did something she never thought of doing. She pulled Rosalie into a hug. It was stiff and awkward at first, but soon they both loosened up and it became a more natural hug.

Their moment was ruined by Emmett who stated, that the fire was ready. They all gathered around it seeing the flames consume Victoria's body.

Bella let her thoughts drift of, she really hoped this experience would open the eyes of both fractions because they could achieve more cooperating than being separate forces who hated each other's guts. She had noticed a little change in their way of speaking to one another. Words like "leech" and "mutt" was rarely used as insults, now it was more used in lighthearted banter. And the moment she had shared with Rosalie had meant everything. Rose had finally accepted her.

When they were sure Victoria had turned to ashes, they extinguished the fire. The wolves were the first to leave. They needed to go home and shower before the cookout and those with imprints were dying to let them know they were alive. Soon after Carlisle and Esme took off because they needed to prepare for the cookout and go hunting, leaving their children and Bella alone in the clearing. Jasper and Edward left to hunt before the cookout. It wouldn't be pretty if they ate their guests! This left Alice, Rosalie, Emmett and Bella.

Emmett approached Bella and asked if she wanted him to take her back to the Cullens house. Bella shook her head and he looked surprised at her before it dawned to him that she was hoping someone else would take her; and that someone else might be his wife. He had been sorry to interrupt their moment. He had longed for Rosalie to warm up to Bella and gradually it had happened after their return to Forks. Maybe it was because of their mutual hatred of Edward? He didn't know and didn't really care. If Rose and Bella were happy, he was happy!

Much to Alice disappointment it was Rosalie who got to carry Bella home. Alice had hoped she would be the one to do it. Oh well, she had a party to plan. Instantly she felt better and besides she would get to talk to Bella later. But before she would need to hunt and thus her and Emmett took off.

Bella texted Mike before Rosalie picked her up.

**Hi honey. Everything went as planned. She's dead. See you in an hour or so. I can't wait! The Cullens are having a cookout to celebrate. The pack will take you. – Bella. **

* * *

**AN: Okay, I managed to get all principle characters written into this chapter except Quil :S Well, he is in the fight and the aftermath – I swear! I don't know how many chapters there are left of this story because first I thought it would be a story containing 10 chapters. Then it expanded to 12 chapters and so forth. I think I have a bit of continuity problem with Leah and Tyler. I need to go back reading my earlier chapters and figure when Leah imprinted in my story. Right now I don't know...oops!  
**


	18. A Foreign Room

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**May 21th 2006**

The moon sent brilliant rays through the window above the bed. Bella had been awake for some time with her eyes closed, but she could not bring herself to open them. Still, she opened them and curiously looked around the illuminated room. She quietly shifted position to get a better view of the room, careful not to wake Mike in the process. Bella pondered whose room it was because it was certainly not her own – it could be one of two options. The first option being the Cullens had lent them a room after the party and the second would be Mike's room. The latter seemed to be the right option because it actually seemed to be used as opposed to the rooms in the Cullen's mansion. She couldn't exactly remember how they got to the Newton Residence. It wouldn't have been great if they had been caught while driving drunk – her being the chief of police's daughter and everything. So the Cullens must have brought them. The party had been pretty wild in fact everyone who were affected by alcohol had been drinking more than was good was. She wondered what Charlie would think if he found out about it. At least the Cullens mansion was far out of town with no neighbors. She wouldn't have lived it down if the police had been summoned to break up the party. Bella was mortified just with mere thought of it. However the Cullens seemed to have control on the matter.

The thing Bella found most remarkable was that the pack and imprints went all in when the alcohol had been served. She would have thought they would be more careful since being surrounded by their worst enemy. However Bella was inclined to think it was because Victoria was dead and La Push secure from that threat. Sure everyone was happy, but no one was as happy as she. For a long time she had this black cloud hanging over her head. She always had to look over her shoulder wherever she went. Now she smelled freedom and to not be afraid anymore – or at least for the rest of the school year and the summer. Another problem had arisen in the wake of Victoria's death – actually it had been a problem for a long time, but they had decided to shove the Volturi problem to the backburner. Now they had to figure out what to do. Bella still hadn't told Mike about the offer Carlisle had made her about becoming a vampire. At the moment she couldn't see herself as one because her life over the past few months had come together nicely. Charlie was her dad – not just a stranger who delivered the sperm and she had found the most amazing friends in the pack and imprints. The icing on the cake was her relationship with Mike. Which were so different from her thing or whatever with Edward? When she dated the latter her whole world revolved around him and she dismissed everyone trying to become her friend. Over the past months she had found how valuable friends could be and at that moment she decided she never would take any of them for granted. However if it was necessary she would sacrifice her life for the greater good if it could keep Charlie, Mike and the Pack out of harm's way.

She started to feel drowsy snuggling closer to Mike and let sleep take her.

The next time she woke the sun was up. She stirred a little and opened her eyes. Looking at her was a pair of brilliant blue eyes.

"Morning, babe" Mike said, How did you sleep?"

Bella yawned, "Morning honey, I slept great despite being awake some time during the night. How long have you been awake?"

Mike shrugged, "Around ten minutes or so."

She slowly sat up, "How did we get here? And are your parents' home?"

"I think the Cullens offered to take us home after they kicked the Pack out – and then I think…" He trailed off, "I think we decided it was just easier to stay here. And as for my parents? I have no idea!"

"Oh" was the only thing she could come up with.

Mike leaned in and gave her a kiss, "I'm going to find out if they are, will you be okay?"

"Yeah I'll be fine" she replied with a smile, "Mike?"

He turned around, "Yeah?"

"Could I borrow something to wear?" Bella knew she was blushing – probably a deep shade of red – when asking the question. She had realized she was only wearing her bra and panties.

A shirt and a pair of boxers landed in the space he just had occupied in the bed.

* * *

While he was gone she changed into the clothes he lent her and curiously looked around. She had actually never been in his room before since they always hung out at her place. It must be because Charlie's always working she thought. She His room was actually quite nice and medium size. The walls had almost the same color as his eyes. The window and door frames were painted white. There were two windows in the room, one above the bed and one to the left looking out at the street. Both had curtains in the same color as the walls. Under that window he had placed his desk and computer. A mahogany bookcase stood next to the desk. Next to the door was a built in closet. At the right side of his bed there was a door leading to a bathroom and next to that he had hooked his television up to what looked like a gaming consol. She didn't know the name because she never cared. Curiously she made her way to the bookcase. It was mostly science fiction books. She was an avid reader herself and loved bookstores however she was content with not having the same taste in books as him. She let her eyes wander and they came to the shelf where his DVD's were placed. She knew he had a good taste in movies and his collection reflected it to a T.

* * *

She was interrupted in her musing when she felt a pair of arms around her waist. She leaned her head back and instantly her lips were captured by his.

She turned around to face him with a soft smile on her lips, "Your parents?"

"They are not here, babe." Mike replied pulling her closer.

Bella complied standing on her tip toes trying to be on his level, "I think we should talk…"

"About?"

Bella kissed him before answering, "About the Cullens and some other stuff."

She stepped out of his embrace and pulled him towards his bed. She was nervous of this conversation and was uncertain of how he would handle things.

"I-I don't know where to start. So I'm starting from scratch…"

Mike nodded, "Would you mind telling me over breakfast? I'm kind of hungry…"

"Oh sure…" Bella trailed off and felt her stomach rumble in agreement.

* * *

They made their way downstairs and just as Mike had told her his parents were nowhere in sight much to her relieve! She silently wondered where they were, but soon she was consumed of her own thoughts.

Five minutes later Mike sat a mug of coffee in front of her, "I'm listing, honey."

"Well you know about the Cullens. They aren't the only ones of their kind roaming the world"

Mike put some cereal and milk in front of her, "I never thought that…"

"There is a coven; I guess you could call it? They are called the Volturi and are governed by three kings." Bella continued before he could say anything in return, "They are vampire royalty and before you ask why you should care about them. You should because they make the rules and gathering vampires with special gifts. Alice and Edward are desired by them and to a lesser extent Jasper since all three are very gifted."

Bella looked at Mike and could almost see the wheels turn in his head, "So they are going to use them as a bargain to get what they want? Just don't understand how this has anything to do with you?"

"It has everything to do with me – and you! We aren't supposed to know of their existence – and yet we do" Bella explained, "When I was dating Edward I thought, I would become one eventually as well since he's stuck at the age of seventeen…"

Mike sat down in the seat across from her with two bowls and spoons, "Oh I see…"

"The Vultori knows about my knowledge of them, but doesn't that you know. It's just happens my desire to become a vampire is nonexistent at the moment!" Bella reached over and took a bowl and filled it with cereal.

Mike bought himself some time by chewing on his cereal longer than necessary, "I actually saw that one coming…because I know how blind you were to the rest of the world while you dated him – or whatever it was…"

She looked surprised at him, "Yeah I remember you saying you knew he did a number on me when I told you some stuff about them on the bleachers."

He swallowed a spoon full of cereal and nodded gesturing her to continue.

"So the Cullens managed to put them off until after the summer holiday because of the situation with Victoria...as I already told you I don't want to become one. Mainly because my relationship to Charlie has improved…" she trailed off and took a sip of her coffee.

She was grateful of him ting her take a moment to think what she had to say next, "Because I learned what it means to have friends and I learned how to fall in love without losing myself in the process…"

Bella sent him a sad smile while reaching for his hand, "But if it's for the greater good, like keeping everyone I care about safe. I will sacrifice myself and become a vampire. Let's just hope it won't come to that"

She studied his face while he let her words sink in. Much to her dismay he let her hand go and her heart dropped to the floor. She was sure he was going to call it quits. After what felt like hours of silence, he moved around the table to sit next to her. He took both her hands and looked her in the eyes. Brown met blue in what felt like a staring contest to her. She really didn't know what to expect other than rejecting.

Thus it came as a surprise when he seriously asked without backing down, "You have a standig offer from the Dr. Cullen, right? Just tell me the truth."

"Yeah." She said looking down at their intertwined fingers, "Are you breaking up with me?"

She could feel her eyes become watery and it took all her strength not to give in. Still the tears came flowing down like a stream. She felt Mike let go of her hands and wiping them away with his thumbs.

He shook his head, "No, silly. I'm not breaking up with you."

Bella lifted her head and met his eyes once more and whispered, "Thank you."

"You don't have to thank me. I'm where I want to be. Trust me…if I didn't, we wouldn't be here today" he softly said leaning in to kiss her.

Their lips lingered on each other longer than necessary and he continued, "We handled the Victoria situation, we will handle the Volturi situation as well."

She kissed him and in return he deepened it. He moved her to his lap still kissing. She pulled away from him, "Maybe love does conquer all?"

"Maybe, who knows?" he playfully retorted.

* * *

They reluctantly disentangled themselves from each other; neither wanted to be caught red-handed by Mike's parents. Both were fairly mortified at these thoughts. Sure they had been caught by Charlie, but they had been fully clothed.

"We should get dressed" Bella suggested giving him a light kiss on the mouth as she passed him on her way to his room. He agreed with her, but told her he would clean up and join her in a little while.

She went to his bathroom looking herself in the mirror, it was pure luck she hadn't been injured during the fight. She still didn't believe Mike when he told her how pretty she was. Shaking her head she continued her slightly different morning routines. She was happy he didn't break up when she gave him an out. Silently she pondered of whether he wanted to become a vampire in the future. Their lives were at risk and she knew every outcome Alice saw ended with the Cullens death or her own. She couldn't and wouldn't imagine what would happen when they found out another human were in on their secret. It was bad enough she knew and they had made it crystal clear. She remembered what the Cullens had told her about finding mates. Was it possible Mike was her mate if they were changed? She shook her head and finished up.

When she emerged from his bathroom, she noticed he must have used a different bathroom because he was dressed as well. She went over to him and sat down next to him waiting for him to put his phone down.

"Done?" she curiously inquired

He nodded, "Ben. He wanted to know if Tyler, Eric and I wanted to hang out. I said no…"

"Why?"

"Isn't it obvious, Bells?"

"Right!" For once she didn't blush which was a huge accomplishment.

She decided to change the subject, "So I bet Tyler isn't up to hang out either?"

"I guess you could say that!" Mike laughed, "I guess it's a little sad for them to be on the outside of this craziness"

"Yeah, but believe me. I think they'll be okay. Just feeling a little sorry for Ben, though…"

He contemplated what she said for a moment before answering, "Mm…I know. Me too. Nothing much we can do about it…"

"Soo what should we do today?" She cut herself off, "By the way did you ever find out where your parents are?"

Mike winked at her, "I know of something we can do…"

"You didn't answer me!" Bella pouted, "And absolutely not!"

"No fun!" he grumbled, "My mom texted me and let me know they are having brunch or whatever with the Mallory's and the Stanley's."

Bella scrunched her nose slightly in disgust, "Something they often do? I know of your mom's dinner dated with Jessica and Laurens mothers."

"Yeah once every week. My father can't stand it, but when his home my mom's forcing him to go" Mike shook his head, "Yeah I'm also forced to sit them out with Lauren and Jessica."

Bella commented with smug smile, "Wow that must have been awkward for the past two months…"

"The alcohol I consumed last night must have affected my brain cells. How could I forget they have brunch with those people!?" Mike scratched his head, "Oh we are lucky it wasn't my mom's turn to host it…"

At the mere thought Bella was sure she sported an appalled look. She only needed one look at Mike to confirm this. He nearly doubled over laughing. That would have been almost as bad as if Charlie had shut the party down the evening before. She was about to make a witty comeback – at least according to herself when she was cut off by her cell phone. It was probably Charlie worried sick – actually she wouldn't be surprised if her face graced the milk cartons! He had become extremely protective of her since she came back from her "zombie face". She smiled when her assumption rang true.

* * *

Five minutes later she threw her phone on his bed and sat down next to him, "Charlie."

"Yeah, I thought so. Was he mad?" Mike swallowed the lump in his throat.

"No, he trusts me…and as I guessed, Alice is a very convincing liar. She told him I spend the night at the Cullens" She shook her head as if she needed to emphasize what she had said, "So your parents know I stayed over?"

Mike looked a little taken aback of her question, "Actually I don't know…they knew I went to a party last night. They usually don't expect me to come when I've been out the night before – unless it's very important for me to be at brunch"

Bella was satisfied with the answer because Charlie had never discovered that Mike had stayed over that one time either. But Mike actually didn't know that. She internally chuckled a bit. Always nice to have a good secret for once!

This time is was Mike who changed the subject, "We never figured out how to spend the day?"

Bella shrugged and let a hand go through her hair. She was for once happy with Alice had seen she was in need of a hairbrush, "How about we just spend it together? We haven't been just the two of us for a long time. I actually don't care what we do as long as it's with you."


	19. Graduation Day

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**June 23nd 2006**

Bella had slept badly that night. She felt far from rested when she woke up. The reason for the bad night's sleep was found in a combination of joy, excitement and relief at having passed all her exams despite a chaotic senior year. She pulled the blanket tighter around herself in order to create the illusion that day had not yet begun – despite the rays of sunlight coming from her window. It promised to be a beautiful day with no rain or clouds in sight. It was rare the weather was this great even in the spring. She happily thought it was because it was graduation was today.

The Cullens had been an invaluable help during the exams period, both for her and Mike – but also for Angela and Tyler. It truly had been a surprise when the headmaster called her and Angela to his office after the finals. He had told them they had received she highest grade average of the whole senior class. Bella had been stunned with this revelation because she didn't think it would be possible of becoming valedictorian – albeit she shared it with Angela. Her performance during the last of her junior year and the beginning of her senior year had been a train wreck. No other word could describe it in her opinion. Furthermore she had often fantasied when she was younger of becoming valedictorian of her senior class. However she had realized that dream would never become reality. To top everything off she had come to terms with it was most likely Jessica and Angela who would have been given the honor. She had apparently surpassed Jessica in the eleventh hour. Well, Jessica had been outraged and had immediately upon learning of her misfortune gone home and cried her sorrows out to her mom. Mrs. Stanley promptly filed a complaint stating Bella must have cheated since she could achieve such an honor. The headmaster and the guidance counselor unfortunately had taken her complaints serious. In the end they had called Bella and Charlie to a meeting. In contrast to Mrs. Stanley and Jessica, Charlie had been ecstatic when Bella told him about her fortune of becoming a valedictorian and had stated it was the best gift she had ever given him. The calm and collected father Bella knew so well had gone out the window as soon as he the accusations against Bella had been presented to him. He had been so outraged about them and it only meant he defended his only daughter with all his heart. He was the proudest father on earth and no one should tamper with the great results his only daughter had achieved. This proved that the Stanley's influence did not extend to a change in attitude in relation to Bella's place as valedictorian.

Bella smiled fondly at the memory and looked at her cell phone to see what time it was. She decided it was time to get up and get ready. The ceremony was set to start at 11 o'clock and she had to reach to get the gown and cap and take its place among the others who graduated.

While going through the motions of her morning rituals, she was consumed by another train of thoughts.

The previous week she had gone with Angela, a reluctant Jessica and Lauren to Port Angeles to buy new dresses and shoes for graduation. Charlie had decided to pay for whatever she wanted as a graduation gift. Although Bella knew there would be more to come from him. This meant she didn't have to tap into her college fund she had saved by working for Mike's parents. Neither Angela nor she had been able to find any excuses not to go when Lauren had approached them. Bella imagined they weren't too fond of going with her and Angela either especially after the debacle about who was going to be valedictorian. She would rather have spent the day with Mike, but unfortunately he had to work and she wasn't really interested when Alice gave her an out. Likewise Jake had been busy as well with God knows what. Thus it meant both Angela and she had to go. One thing was certain and that was that she would never suffer Jessica and Lauren. She tolerated them solely for the reason that they had been friends with Angela and Mike for many years. Although she knew that the two do not seem particularly good about them. Yet she had learned over the last month that friendship was nothing to sneeze at. It was probably the reason why Mike and Angela held onto their friendship to Jessica and Lauren. It was an understatement everyone had been happy when they arrived in Forks and went their separate ways.

* * *

Bella arrived at Forks High with Charlie, who for once had let his deputy take charge of the police station – at least until the graduation parties started. They quickly found their friends from La Push who had come to see her, Angela and Tyler graduate. She gave her father a kiss on the cheek and left to get her cap and gown. She was a little sad about her mother and Phil weren't able to attend because of some game. Instead Charlie as a consolation prize had promised to tape the ceremony – in reality he let Seth do it.

Bella arrived at the auditorium which was turned into where the cap and gowns were handed out in honor of the occasion. She swiftly made her way to the table and gave her name to the women at the table. While waiting for her cap and gown she felt a presence behind her. Smiling Bella turned around and looked into a pair of brilliant blue eyes. Today they had the color of the ocean as seen in postcards from sunny regions and she could never get enough of looking at him or his eyes.

"Ready, Bells?"

She nodded, "Just a little nervous about the speech."

"You are white as a sheet, honey" Mike concerned replied, "You sure you're okay?"

Again Bella nodded, but was cut off from answering when she felt a little nudge in the side from Mike. She turned around and saw the women returning with her cap and gown. With a forced smile she took the cloths from the woman. Mike put a comforting arm around Bella's shoulders and gave the woman his name when she looked questioningly at him. She returned a little while later with his cap and gown. They both took in the surroundings they were in. People laughed, hustled and bustled trying to find their friends and their way out of the auditorium. They both spotted Angela and Tyler at the same time. Hand in hand they walked over to them.

"Hi guys!" Bella smiled brightly at them, "Ready, Ang?"

"No, I feel like throwing up!" Angela shook her head, "Doesn't help Jake – and Tyler" she pointed to the guy standing next to her, "think it's funny!"

"Of cause it is!" Tyler huffed, but changed his mind when he got an elbow in the stomach from Angela, "I-I meant it's not funny – at all!"

Mike interjected, "Maybe we should find our seats?"

The three others quickly agreed and made their way out of the auditorium.

* * *

Even it was a rare sunny day no one at Forks High seemed to take any changes, therefore the graduation ceremony was to take place in the gym. No one would want to run if the rain suddenly decided to grace the special day. As Bella and Angela both were valedictorians they had the honor of sitting on stage behind the rostrum alongside the headmaster and other special guests. Bella would have preferred to sit among the others and she had a feeling Angela would too. Mike gave Bella one last kiss before finding his own seat among the students which last name started with N. The gym was almost full of family and friends – and all the graduating students were almost sitting in their seats only a handful students lacked.

"Bella?" Angela whispered.

Bella looked at her friend, "Yeah?"

"I'm happy I'm not alone up here or with Jessica." Angela gratefully said

These words made Bella reach for Angela's hand, "Ang, I'm happy to have you as my friend."

They shared a tearful look and a hug not really caring what other people thought.

They didn't have time to say anything more to each other as the ceremony begun. However their hands were still intertwined as if it could give them strength to go through with their impending speech. Bella searched for Charlie and found him. She locked eyes with him and sent him a brilliant smile which he returned. They were so proud of how their relationship had developed over the year – from nonexistent to blossoming. She looked to Charlie's left and locked eyes with Jacob. Her sun, her Jake, who had helped her when no one else could reach her. She was sure he would always be her best friend no matter what happened in the future. She had been so happy when he imprinted on Angela. Angela had really come out of her shell during the past months and they suited each other perfectly. She gave him a little nod which he returned. Again she let her eyes wander trying to find the one person who had caused much grief in such a short time. She found him standing in the back of the gym. The moon to Jake's sun. The one who treated her as a porcelain doll to the one who didn't. They locked eyes for what felt like hours – in reality it was only a few seconds. They would never become close again, but he was still a part of her – just like Jake. And Mike. Her eyes were getting misty and she mustered giving him a little smile. Finally she found the guy she had come to love in such a short period. He was neither her moon nor her sun, neither cold nor warm, neither holding back his emotions nor acting on them and the icing on the cake was he was perfect in all his human glory, made bad decisions and had flaws like all humans did. She was lost in his blue eyes and was startled when the headmaster cleared his throat and announced it was time for the valedictorians to give their speech. Out of the corner of her eyes she could see a similar reaction from Angela. They sheepishly looked up at him and slowly got up. Hand in hand they walked up the rostrum.

* * *

After their speech they sat down next to each other and the headmaster gestured to the musicians to play "Pomp and Circumstance".

The most important part of the ceremony was set in motion. The headmaster started to read the names of the graduating student up and after every name clapping and pictures were mandatory from friends and family.

Bella didn't much attention until the headmaster called, "Ben Chaney!"

Then she perked up and clapped as enthusiastically as the girl sitting next to her. She knew the rift between the former lovers was never fully repaired. However they had become friends again or at least tolerated and spoke to each other from time to time. Ben went smiling in stage to pick up his diploma.

Both Angela and Bella lost interest once again until the headmaster announced, "Tyler Crowley!"

Tyler hurried on stage and picked up his diploma while getting a big applause from the audience especially from the members of La Push who were present.

The ceremony dragged on because neither Angela nor Bella really cared for their smiling class mates until the headmaster called, "Lauren Mallory!"

The applause she got was limited since being known as queen B isn't always a good thing. She had run Forks High with an iron fist with Jessica and no one except her parents, The Stanley's and the Newton's minus Mike really liked her when it came down to it. They all thought she was a vindictive bitch. Not even Tyler gave her the time of day anymore which Lauren was furious about since she had gotten a crush on him, when his faded due to being imprinted on by Leah.

Once again Bella and Angela were lulled into boredom. Bella perked up when the headmaster drew closer in announcing Mike and finally he did, "Mike Newton!"

Mike got a big applause. Him being a popular student and on the football team despite dating Bella – and quitting the team after starting to see her. Compared to Mike who loved attention, she preferred lurking in the shadows. Both Angela and she joined the clapping. When he passed them on his way down from the stage he blew Bella a kiss, who happily accepted it.

The next of their friends to receive her diploma was Jessica Stanley. She got about the same treatment as Lauren. She glared at Bella when she passed them on the way to her seat. Bella didn't really care – at all because she was bracing herself to be called up to receive her diploma. Luckily she wouldn't have to walk far and therefore minimize the risk of stumbling or God forbid – falling.

"Isabella Marie Swan!" the headmaster announced.

Bella let go of Angela's hand and made her way up to the rostrum. It was an understatement that she got the biggest applause of all that had been on stage. She had connection to the Cullens, the Blacks, the Clearwaters and the Newtons. She once again found Charlie and this time she let her tears fall. It was a great accomplishment and seeing him so happy made her heart swell with pride. She really was lucky having him as her father. At the same time she regretted not having had a real relationship with him when she was a child. Smiling she went to her seat next to Angela. She found Mike and returned his gesture by blowing him a kiss.

Bella glanced sideways at Angela and could see the latter becoming nervous as the last student with a last name beginning with T was clapped down from the stage by the audience.

"Angela Weber!" the headmaster cried.

Angela got an applause that rivaled the one Bella had gotten since the Cullens had taken Angela to them as another daughter like Bella and she had strong ties to the Blacks, the Clearwaters, Tyler, Mike and the Swans combined with her father's profession as a Lutheran pastor. Which made her family a respected family in the community just like Charlie, Bella thought.

And finally Eric Yorkie was called on stage. He got a fairly short applause and Bella wondered if people were tired of clapping and smiling since they had to sit out around 50 students or so getting their diplomas.

She was pulled from her thoughts when the headmaster announced, "Class of 2006!"

Hats in the air, smiling faces everywhere, students hugging each other wishing each other the best and trying to find their relatives.

* * *

Bella looked as Angela made a beeline for her parents. Bella scanned the room and found her boyfriend had been snatched by his parents. Instead she decided to find Charlie and made her way outside. She found him standing with Jake and Billy talking.

"Dad!" Bella exclaimed, "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

Before he could answer Bella had thrown herself in his arms in a tight hug.

Sobbing against his shoulder she croaked out, "I made it, dad! I really made it!"

Charlie awkwardly rubbed soothing circles on her back, "Yeah kid, you did. Your mother and I are so proud of you!"

She stepped out of his embrace while drying her eyes she grumbled; "Now I ruined my make up!"

"Never took you for one who cared about that stuff" Jake playfully snorted.

Billy gave Jake a stern look which lightened up the mood a bit up since Jake literary cowered.

"Congratulations, Bella" Billy softly said, "Don't mind the big doofus I call my son!"

Bella bent down to his level to hug him and whispered knowing Jake could hear every word, "Don't worry about it, I'm just going to let it slip to Angela…"

"Aww come on you wouldn't do that!?" Jake interjected, "Would you?"

Bella shook her head and gestured for him to give her a hug, "Better congratulate and hug me before Angela and Mike finds us!"

"As you wish, my lady!" Jake grinned and engulfed her in a bear hug while whispering congratulations to her.

She smiled and moved closer to Charlie.

"Have you met Reverend and Mrs. Weber?" Charlie asked looking over Billy's shoulder.

They both shook their heads.

"Why?" Jake curiously asked.

Charlie sent him a playful smile, "They are on their way over."

"Well dad, maybe we should find Mike and his family?", Bella asked her father, "And give them some time alone with the in-laws…"

Before Charlie could answer Bella was engulfed in a hug from Angela, "I just ran into Tyler on the way over. He talked to Ben and Mike about getting a photo of us in our gowns. "

"I see…" Bella said not jumping with joy, "When?"

"He said something about 15 minutes…"

"Oh okay…" Bella trailed off, I'll see you guys there…"

Charlie and Bella said a short hello to Angela's parents before embarking on their quest to find the Newtons.


	20. Farewell

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**June 24th 2006 – Before the picnic with Mike.  
**

Bella was happy that Mike had agreed to drive her to the Cullens and agreeing to pick her up afterwards. They had planned a little picnic after she had said her goodbyes to them. The Cullens had decided it was best to skip town as soon as possible after the graduation ceremony. They had all been there to see Bella receiving her diploma, but had decided to stay in the shadows and they were gone by the time the ceremony ended. However she had an uneasy feeling that they were going to give her a lavish graduation gift she did not want. She had tried to sabotage their plans – to no avail. Combine this with the fact the last time she opened a gift in their house it only cost everyone involved grief and sorrows to boot. It was not like she hated gifts per say but she hated when people spent large sums of money on her.

Bella glanced at Mike who was concentrating on driving the car. A little frown graced his face and Bella wondered if it had anything to with what had happened over the past month. Truth to be told, she was very impressed by how accustomed and how he was coping with all this supernatural shit! she had a feeling that he was going with the flow because he cared about her. After all everyone came with a package when entering new relationships – however maybe she was asking too much of him? She still couldn't fathom why he wanted to be with her. She looked out the window and was consumed by her thoughts.

Her musings were cut short by Mike, "A penny for your thoughts, babe."

Bella startled looked at him with a frown, "Just thinking of the Cullens…and what to say to them…"

She didn't want to offer Mike her real thoughts. She had all the time in world to discuss them with him – if necessary.

"I see…" Mike trailed off, "You're sure you don't want me to stay?"

Bella saw the concern shining in his blue eyes, but nevertheless shrugged, "Yeah. I'll be fine."

They went silent for a while before Mike broke it and said in a strained voice, "You know? I'm at your beck and call today. You just call – and I'll be at the Cullens as soon as I can…"

"How?"

"I've decided to hang around the store…" Mike said with a smile before explaining, "That way I'm closer to the Cullens than if I stayed in Forks."

"Oh, okay." was Bella's brilliant response.

She shook her head was that the best she could say? He had made it clear he would do anything for her – and that was the only response she could come up with?

The rest of drive was made in peaceful silence and Bella noticed that they were close. Mike had already driven a while on the gravel road leading to the Cullens residence. Five minutes later he pulled the car into park and cut the engine.

"I promise I'll be fine – and I'll be careful" Bella softly said as to ease his doubts about everything.

Mike turned to face her and found her eyes. A pair of sparkling blue met a pair of browns orbs.

He cupped her face and tenderly said, "I know you will. But forgive me if I'm still a little – how to put it? Uneasy?"

Bella was well aware the Cullens could hear what was being said, but she could care less about them. She had to find a way to make Mike more comfortable with them and she didn't seem to find the necessary words. Instead she leaned in and kissed him. They only pulled away get air before locking lips again in a tender embrace.

"Do you trust me now?" she whispered.

Mike nodded, "Yeah. I'll always trust you and your judgment – as long as you do the same."

With one last kiss Bella got out of the car. Before closing it she leaned in, "It shouldn't take more than an hour or so."

"Remember, call if you need me."

Bella nodded and closed the car door.

* * *

She made her way to the front door and rang the bell. While waiting for the door to be answered she kept an eye on Mike. He had started the car and was waiting to see her off safe and sound. It was once again Emmett who answered the door. She turned around and locked eyes with her boyfriend. She blew him a kiss and waved which he returned.

"Mike still doesn't trust us – or maybe it's Edward he doesn't trust?." Emmett dryly noted at they went upstairs.

"Nope" Bella said popping the p, "That's why you refrained from hugging me?"

Emmett shrugged, "Perhaps…"

He let it hang in the air and Bella didn't ask any more questions and dropped the subject.

Bella was surprised that Emmett actually knew when to back down and not be his goofy self. She scolded herself a little by this sentiment because he had already shown he was so much more than the goofy prankster since they returned a couple of months ago!

The Cullens were gathered in the spacious living room. Alice was the first one to give her a hug.

Alice whispered to her, "It's going to be a wonderful picnic you have planned for Mike and yourself."

"Oh – eh – thanks? I guess?" Bella said a little taken aback.

She looked around the room and the others looked anywhere but at her trying to give the illusion they hadn't heard what Alice had said. Bella actually appreciated the gesture. And what surprised Bella even more was that Alice didn't drag her to the couch as she used to, instead she let Bella choose where to sit. Bella decided to play it safe and sit down next to Emmett and beckoned Esme to sit down by patting the empty seat next to her. It was nice having these two vampires on either side – it prevented Edward from trying to claim it. After a while of talking about pleasantries like graduation, how everyone was coping with Victoria's death and other small talk.

Carlisle cut to the chase, "As you know Bella, we're leaving Forks."

"Yes?"

Carlisle continued, "But this isn't farewell for eternity since we have a little problem called the Volturi. However it's not a pressing matter – it can wait until after your summer holiday. I know it's a lot to ask you. Will you agree to meet us all once more in three months?"

Bella considered pros and cons of meeting them again. She quickly made a decision and in a shaky voice said, "I agree. If that mean I'll be free to whichever life it is – with a beating heart or with a heart of stone"

Esme rubbed soothing circles on her hand and Bella instantly knew she would miss Esme the most of all the Cullens because she was the mother Renee never could be. At the same time she wondered why Edward wasn't speaking up against what she just had said. She glanced at him and saw him pinching the bridge of his nose. She shook her head and the thoughts disappeared like snow in the sun.

Instead she asked a little hesitant, "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow, love." Edward answered in a sad voice.

Bella could feel her eyes becoming misty and soon tears were clouding her vision. To her surprise it was Rosalie who offered her a handkerchief. She looked grateful at the blonde vampire who in turn put a hand on her shoulder as to comfort her since Emmett and Esme had grabbed her hands.

Alice slowly made her way over to the four and sat down on the table. She swallowed hard as if she wanted to push her non-falling tears back and softly said, "We already told you, we wouldn't leave without a goodbye. This is an e-mail address created – especially for you. Use it if you ever need us and we'll be at your side as soon as possible…"

Alice gently put her hand on Bella's knee and Bella could feel all the emotions in the room. She looked to where Jasper was and he shook his head. At that moment she knew every emotion in the room was real and not manipulated. Alice gave her an envelope containing the e-mail address, but didn't move an inch.

Carlisle cleared his throat and sat down next to Alice, "This isn't a goodbye – just so you know. Remember we'll meet up again at the end of summer…"

"His right" Jasper gently said coming closer to the others, "It'll never be goodbye. Bella you made an impact on us all. You made us fell human again – or at least me."

He chuckled a little and came to stand by Rosalie.

"No Jasper's right" Rosalie quickly agreed, "I never wanted this life – at all. But you made me – at least accept it for what it is."

Bella was startled by all these revelations that she couldn't find the words. Luckily for her Emmett hadn't lost the gift of speaking!

"Before it get too touchy feely…I-I just want to say that you always will be my little sister!" he said with a warm smile.

It was now Bella noticed that everyone but Edward were close to her. She looked up and finally mustered the courage biting her lower lip, "Edward?"

He looked directly at her, "Yeah?"

"Do you think we could talk?"

She noticed that he eyed her with slight suspicion, but a while later he relented, "Of cause, love."

Bella looked at her watch and figured Mike would be there to pick her up in half an hour and Alice was probably dying to give her the graduating gift. She groaned inaudible and looked outside and found the weather was suitable for a walk in the garden.

"The garden?" she suggested.

Edward nodded in consent.

* * *

They found a bench at the outskirts of the garden close to the edge of the forest.

"Soo what did you want to talk to me about? Edward looked a little puzzled at her.

Bella bit her lower lip and whispered, "I-I guess I just wanted to know how you're holding up? You know with all the buisness with Victoria – and me finding someone else…"

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose which Bella knew was a habit, something he did when he was either nervous or deep in thoughts.

He finally answered in a neutral voice, "I'm getting better with each day. It actually has helped a lot that we haven't been much alone together."

"I see." Bella thoughtfully said, "Edward?"

For the second time in two days their eyes locked until Edward looked away.

"Yes, love?"

"Thanks, for being my first love. You'll always have place in my heart." Bella sincerely said before he could reply, she added, "I hope someday – when you're ready – that is…that you'll find your happy ending. Finding your Angela..."

She purposely used Angela, since the imprint was set in stone – her relationship with Mike sadly wasn't. She kind of wish it was – maybe someday – if they got married. However she had seen her parent's bitter divorce from ring side. It hadn't been pretty. She shouldn't go that way. It only made her sad and wanting to cry her eyes out.

Edward mulled over her kind words and he was practically rendered speechless of how selfless she was. They sat in silence for a while just looking at the skies until Bella looked at her watch and frowned a bit. Edward saw it and sent her a puzzled look.

"We should get back." Bella stated.

As expected the Cullens had prepared a lavish gift for her. Carlisle had created a scholarship for her benefit to finance going to college. However they had respected that she had worked hard for the money she already got in the bank and thus the scholarship was just a helping hand from time to time. She gracefully accepted it without much pouting or protests. It was a huge accomplishment.

"Bella, Mike's going to be here in five minutes or so." Esme gently said.

With their enchanted hearing Bella wasn't surprised that they could hear his Suburban coming.

They all stood up at the same time.

Bella opened her arms to Jasper who held her in a tight embrace, "Thanks for forgiving me for what happened." They let go and she waved it away with a smile.

Carlisle was next in line and he gently told her they would contact her in a few months to set everything up.

Rosalie swept Bella into a surprisingly warm embrace, "Believe it or not. I'm going to miss you." Bella smiled and agreed with her. She sure was going to miss the blond vampire and her fiery attitude.

She then turned to Esme whose eyes were misty and was pulled into a loving embrace – which only a mother could give. Esme stressed that she would always see her as a daughter and how sorry she was about leaving her alone. Again Bella waved it away and told her feelings were mutual in regards to seeing Esme as her mother.

She pondered for a moment looking back and forth between Alice and Emmett. She finally made her decision and beckoned Alice to come. Alice quickly obliged. Their embrace was considerably longer than any of the others until now. Bella knew Alice and Emmett were the ones beside Esme she would miss the most. No words were necessary in their parting. And soon they let go of each other.

Emmett didn't waist anytime since they could hear a car door slam shut outside indicating Mike had arrived. He pulled her into his trademark bear hug and whispered, "Going to miss you little sister."

Upon letting her go Bella sent him a warm smile and told him she was going to miss him too.

Only one vampire was left and it was hard. The hardest goodbye of all. In a way it was a goodbye because the next time they would see each other would be under a shitload of stress where feelings were best kept under wrapped. The rest of the family had left the room to one last time give Bella the illusion of privacy which she once again immensely appreciated.

"I guess – this is goodbye then?" she awkwardly said.

Edward shook his head and sent her lopsided smile, "No Bella. As my family told you it's not."

She was about to say something when he cut her off, "We don't have much time, love. Mike's already here waiting and from I can read his getting more concerned with every minute that ticks by. I really appreciate what you said to me in the garden. Someday I'll find my true mate. But Bella, you'll always have special place in my heart to. If you ever need me; e-mail this address."

"But I already got one from your family..." Bella started to say.

"I know, love. But this one, I created for you. Friends help each other in need, don't they?"

She speechless nodded before crossing the last barrier between which ironically was a coffee table (she didn't trip over – she was rather proud of that accomplishment) pulling him into an embrace.

"I trust you can find your way out? Edward inquired his voice laced with emotions, "I like to meet my family to hunt. That's why they left – by the way. Both to give us a little privacy and to not be here when you leave..."

Bella nodded and before she could say anything in return Edward was gone.

* * *

One last time she looked around the house before making her way downstairs and out the front door to – Mike.


	21. A Wonderful Picnic

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**June 24th 2006 – The picnic**

Bella quickly opened the door and saw Mike leaning against the hood of his car. She literary flung herself into his open arms. She was sobbing and he knew her well enough by now to know it would be over soon. So he just rubbed soothing circles on her back letting her cry. When her sobbing finally subsided he gently kissed her and ushered her into his car.

She swallowed and asked in a shaky voice, "You got everything we need?"

Mike snorted, "What do you think? I would let you starve? Or let you sit on the ground without a blanket?"

Bella smiled at him. Her mood had already gone up a couple of notches. This was what she needed – some lighthearted banter before getting into her meeting with the Cullens. Mike would want to hear all about it.

She looked at him and mockingly said, "You never know! Guys aren't really made for packing picnic baskets."

Mike stuck his tongue out.

"Yeah I love you too, sweetheart." Bella winked at him.

Mike shook his head before retorting, "I know you do. And I love you."

"I've had that feeling for a while." Bella admitted.

Wait back up a little. Did they just say those three words? Oh my god, Bella thought, this was huge! She never said these words to a boyfriend before. Granted Mike was only her second boyfriend, but had she really meant it when proclaiming it to Edward? No, not really – not like now. She meant every word of it. And the best part was, she knew Mike meant every word too.

"Cat got your tongue?" Mike smirked.

Bella rolled her eyes and replied, "Nope!" and added, "Just thought about we said I love you for the first time."

"Aww that's true." Mike smirked before continuing in a more serious voice, "You know I meant it, right?"

Bella looked at him like he was from another planet, "Yes of course I do, honey!"

"And I know you meant it too. That's what matters." Mike stated, "Oh we're here!"

Bella looked around and all she saw was a muddy trail leading in to the forest. Mike sensed the mood change and quickly explained that they weren't going far. Just a couple of meters.

She nodded and took the blankets he handed her. And of course he had been right. The clearing was absolutely beautiful and far enough away that they wouldn't be disturbed, but still close enough to town and the cell tower. She spread the blankets among the wild flowers and sat down.

"I need to go get the last bag" Mike told her, "Will you be okay?"

Bella nodded and started to unpack the basket. Before she left for the Cullens she had packed a bag with a book, some extra cloths and stuff like that. Mike had done the same and he hadn't been able to carry it all at once. Bella thought how differently this would have been if the company had been Edward. Edward wouldn't have left her side at all! He would have either insisted upon carrying all their things at once or dragging her to the car. She shuddered at the thought and duck deeper into the basket. That's why she liked being with Mike. He wasn't treating her like a thing, he valued her opinions about stuff and he trusted her judgment (even if he didn't like it). Basically he let her make her own descions and she let him make his. She heard a thump and saw Mike setting her bag next to her.

"See you already found the food." Mike playfully said leaning in for a kiss.

She happily obliged.

"Let's eat!" Bella said and noticed how hungry she was when her stomach growled in agreement.

While they ate Bella filled Mike in on what happened at the Cullens after he left.

An hour later they were lying side by side looking up at the skies and enjoying the sun in silence. Bella was happy to get the conversation about the Cullens had gone relatively smoothly without many questions. And she had told Mike he was joining her whenever the Cullens called the meeting because it affected his life as well. They were a team – if people didn't like it – they could find someone else to hang out with.

Mike shifted his position to lying on his side with his head resting on his elbow and considered how lucky he was.

Bella cracked her eyes open and curiously asked, "What are you doing?"

"Looking at you."

"Yes, Captain Obvious. I'm well aware of that." Bella retorted.

"Can't a guy look at his girlfriend without being mocked?" Mike pouted, feigning that he was hurt by her words.

Bella knew better and winked at him.

He took this as an invite and before Bella knew of it. He kissed her and soon they were heavily making out, only stopping when gasping for air.

"Well as much as I like this" Bella said gasping for air and when she caught her breathe she continued, "What are our summer plans?"

Mike kept his hold on her while looking thoughtful.

"I suppose staying in Forks isn't an option?" he finally said.

Bella grinned, "As long I'm with you, I don't care where I am."

"I like that train of thoughts…" Mike trailed off and was about to kiss her again when she stopped by putting a finger on his mouth.

"We could go to Jacksonville?" Bella offered, "My mom's been dying to meet you."

Bella blushed at the thought of the contexts of the e-mails she had received from her mother. They basically were one long try to get as much out of Bella as possible about Mike. Questions ranging from the more innocent like "Do I know his parents?, "What kind of films/music's/sports does he like" to the more intimate questions like: "Is he a good kisser?" and "Is he hot?" – And the questions went on – and on – and on. Bella had reached her boiling point when her mother asked: "Have you slept together and if you have, did you remember to use protections?" and had firmly put her foot down and refused to answer any more questions about her love life or friendships in general.

Mike pondered for a while before saying, "I'd love to."

"I-I mean if you don't have to work for your parents?"

He shook his head and told her he had quit the day before the graduation.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Bella surprised exclaimed.

He shrugged, "Because I wanted it to be a surprise. Which I by the way think it was to you."

"Yeah" she agreed, "It was."

"I've got an idea." Mike smirked.

Bella gestured for him to continue.

"Why not make it a road trip?"

"You know it's not a bad idea."

Mike looked shocked at her, "Didn't think you would agree – this quickly…I know you don't like making rash decisions…"

"Oh you thought I needed more convincing" Bella smirked and added in a more uncertain voice, "What about the money?"

Bella laid down with her head on his chest trying to find a solution to their impending problem. She still felt so at ease when listing to his breathing and he had the right temperature to boot. Not too cold nor too warm. He was just the way she liked it.

Bella spoke up, "Have your parents found replacements for us?

"No? At least I don't think so"

"Well maybe they would agree to let us work for them – again. Summer's always busy…"

Mike contemplated her suggestion, "Yeah, it's worth a try. Isn't it? After all they can't say no to me? And we are a team! So they have to give you a job as well"

"How long do you think it'll take to get the money?"

"Maybe, two to three weeks if we take all the shifts they'll give us?" he offered.

"At least we'll be spending time together every day!"

Mike disentangled himself from her much dismay, found his phone in the bag and hit speed dial.

Five minutes later he hung up smiling brightly and put his phone away.

"My parents will do anything to get me interested in running the business!" he said scratching his head while shaking his head.

Bella knew his desires were lying elsewhere, but nevertheless she was happy it pulled through.

She snuggled closer to him and she rewarded him with a kiss which quickly turned into another heavy make out session.


	22. One Last Gathering

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. ****Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**June 26th 2006**

Bella knew she was running late and that the others probably already had. She parked her car next to Jessica's. She sighed and opened the car door. She reached over to reach the baskets with biscuits and buns as she had promised to bake for their farewell party or whatever you might call it. At that moment she heard another car as and looked up. She saw Angela hectic getting out of the car. She hankede up in baskets and closed the car door.

"Hey Ang." Bella said smiling to here bestfriend.

"Hi Bella!" Angela greeted here with a smile.

Before Bella could answer vibrated her mobile. She tried to rummage through her purse while she balanced the two baskets.

"Need help?" offered Angela.

Bella looked gratefully at her and gave Angela one of the baskets and put the other on top of the trunk of Angela's car. Now that she had both hands free, she quickly found her cell phone. Her eyes lit up when she read it and showed it to Angela who nodded relieved after reading it.

**Bells, ****Everyone is ****here ****except for ****Angela ****and ****you. ****Eric ****and I ****will meet you ****half way ****if you ****need help ****to carry whatever you're bringing****. - ****Mike****.**

Her assumption had been right and she put her cell phone back into the bag - no need to reply since they were almost there. Bella reached out for the basket, so Angela could open the trunk of her car. Angela handed her the other basket.

"Remind me why we agreed to this?" Angela murmured as she closed the trunk.

Bella shook her head and looked thoughtfully, "Charlie encouraged me to see you all one last time. Forgive me if I don't jump for joy about the prospect of spending the afternoon with the others."

"Well that's a little out of character for Charlie, isn't it?" Angela inquired picking her boxes up where Bella assumed it contained something edible.

"Yeah, it is!" Bella grinned, "He's really changed since getting closer to Sue. Anyway why are you here?"

"My parents thought it was a fine idea with a farewell party." She huffed shuddering at the thought.

They walked down the path for a while in silence when Angela broke it, "What else did Charlie say to you? I mean when he persuaded you to go."

Bella shrugged, "He said something about enjoying my youth and that I would regret if I did not get to say goodbye to them. What'd Jake say? Is he okay with this?"

Angela nodded, "Surprisingly, he supported my parents ..."

"I see…" Bella said thoughtful, "I'm actually also doing this as a favor to Mike. He has known you guys way longer than me. It means something to him – you know – to say a proper goodbye to them. He might not see them again. Or at least he properly will continue to see you and Tyler. And maybe see Ben and Eric one last time."

They fell back into a comfortable silence each struggling a bit with their heavy load while walking up the muddy trail.

* * *

Bella was happy when she spotted Mike and Eric coming closer to them.

"Ang.? Why don't we wait for them here for them?"

Angela, who had also spotted them quickly agreed to Bella's suggestion. Thus they carefully put their bags and baskets down.

"Hey girs!" Eric shouted when he knew they could hear him.

Both Angela and she waved at them not wanting to waist their voices by yelling.

When the boys reached them Mike quickly gave Bella a kiss and she deepened it. They reluctantly pulled away from each other and looked around - only to see both Eric and Angela had vanished because the trail writhed – and maybe because they didn't want to intrude on their privacy. On top of that they prolonged the agreement to come into effect, Bella happily thought.

As they walked towards where the others were waiting Bella lost herself in her thoughts. They decided to have their farewell gathering outside when the weather had been unusually good in Forks since graduation. Both Angela and Tyler had vetoed going to First Beach in La Push because they knew that Jake and Leah would come up with excuses to stay around. Neither of them would want to rile Lauren or Ben up. Bella and Mike likewise had made an agreement not to purposely rile Jessica up and blow things out of proportions. Everyone in the group had been entangled with each other much to Bella's amusement. She however hadn't hooked up with anyone but Mike. She had promised Mike not to be the one to turn the day into an argument over silly. Bella gritted her teeth because she knew it would be difficult to keep this promise. However she was determined to do it since this gathering was important to Mike. Another sacrifice she had to make for the greater good or at least if she wanted to keep her boyfriend.

Fifteen minutes later Bella and Mike reached a clearing surrounded by thick bush and forest. A fireplace was nestled in the middle of the clearing with some tree stumps around it. Some benches and tables made out of wood were spread around the clearing. They were lucky to have the place to themselves because it was immensely popular among the citizens of Forks to come out here and enjoy the nature. But people seldom had time to come there during the week and they had purposely chosen a Monday to have this party. Mike went over to the table with the muffins and cookies Bella had baked while she put down her bag next to the others.

"Ah, finally!" Jessica happily exclaimed, "You're here!"

"As if we could not see or hear it!" Bella muttered in a low voice only Mike could hear.

He gave her a stern look and Bella pouted, "I know, I know. I promised…" while she inwardly gritted her teeth.

She presented Jessica with a dazzling smile and sat down next to Ben who was following Angela with his eyes.

Bella patted his arm and lowered her voice, "She's not coming back to you…you know that right?"

Ben turned to look at her with misty eyes, "Yeah. I know. But it still hurts seeing her moving on – this quickly."

Their conversation was interrupted by Angela who smiling sat on Bella's other side. Great was Bella's only thought – sandwiched between the two former lovers. Mike let himself plop down across from Bella with Jessica and Tyler on either side. Eric chose the seat next to Jessica which left Lauren to take the one next to Ben. Bella let out an inaudible sigh – at least Lauren and Tyler weren't sitting next to each other. That would have been awful. They were cross with each other about their timing because everyone knew they probably would have ended up as a couple if Tyler suddenly hadn't started a relationship with Leah.

They ate in silence and only sound were coming from the forks and knives touching the plates. Everyone was concentrating on cutting, chewing and occaionally take a sip from a soda.

After a good half an hour in awkward silence Mike broke the silence by inquiring, "So what are your plans for the summer?"

Lauren swallowed her bite and enthusiastically said, "Jessica and I both got money for a road trip in a graduation gift from our parents."

"Aww that's wonderful" Angela kindly said and added, "Where are you planning to go?"

Jessica grinned, "Los Angeles!"

"Sounds great, Jess." Mike exclaimed sending her a lopsided smile.

Something turned in Bella upon seeing this, but she didn't think anyone noticed. She knew it was ridiculous of being jealous of Jessica and Mike's past. He had made it pretty clear to her that they (Bella and Mike) were exclusive. She pushed the thoughts into the back of her mind and decided to concentrate on the conversation.

Both Jessica and Lauren nodded in agreement.

"How about you, Mike?" Jessica interested asked.

Mike and Bella exchanged a glance and Bella made a gesture with her hand mentioning for him to answer since Jessica had directed her question at him.

"Well, we have decided to visit Bella's mother in Jacksonville." Mike a little bashfully stated.

And Bella added, "We're staying in Forks for at least three weeks to make enough money for the road trip. After that we're on the road!"

Angela looked surprised, "Are you coming back before going off to college?"

"Yeah, we are. I honestly don't think Charlie would let me go if I didn't return to say goodbye." Bella responded and turning to Jessica she asked, "When are you and Lauren leaving?"

"Oh I think it's the coming Sunday? She answered a little uncertain, "Right Lauren?"

Lauren nodded and confirmed, "Yeah we're leaving on Sunday."

"Yeah Angela and me are staying in town." Tyler told them, "We want to get to know Leah and Jacob a little better before being off to college."

Angela just nodded in agreement.

"How about you, Ben?" Bella curiously asked.

"Well, Eric and me has decided to take a road trip to New York." Ben answered while giving Eric a high five.

"So basically we're scattered all over the country for the summer?" Bella concluded.

"When do you leave?" Jessica ignoring Bella's half conclusion/half question.

Eric looked thoughtfully for a moment before answering, "Honestly? We aren't sure. We still need a little more cash to finance the trip."

"Yeah he's unfortunately right." Ben said in a sad voice, "But we're really looking forward to see other things and meeting new people."

Angela picked up where Bella left off, "Mm it looks that way…"

"Maybe it was a good idea - I mean - meeting one last time?" Ben let the question hang in the air.

Lauren spoke up, "Yes, I think it's been a succes until now. Before I thought this party or whatever it is would end in disater!"

"I guess it's been a succes?" Bella said a little uncertain while biting her lower lip, "If I have to tell you guys – eh – the truth I ha-had my doubts about this too."

Mike studied her face and considered what to say for a while before exclaiming, "Why didn't you just say something, babe?"

"I don't know. Thought I'd give it a chance to see how it was going to pan out." Bella shrugged.

Mike slightly shook his head, but dropped the subject after a look from Bella which told him not to delve deeper into the case.

"At least we've all acted fairly civil...At least I think so." Angela commented saving Mike from having to come up with a response.

"Mm…I guess we have." Ben responded with a shrug, "It's actually a huge accomplishment considering our history of dating - crisscrossed in the group!"

"Let's not go there." Lauren begged.

Jessica added, "Sadly, it's still an open wound for us all."

"I concur." Ben choked out his eyes getting clouded with tears threatening to fall.

"I say we end our gathering before it's getting dark." Angela kindly suggested.

Bella looked up - sure enough the sun was setting and dusk would soon descend upon them.

The others quickly agreed and started to pack all the things they had brought.

"Wait!" Jessica yelled.

They all looked questioningly at her.

"We need to have one last group photo. To have something to remember the good and bad time by." She explained.

They all gathered and soon they were immortalized on a series of pictures portraying them in different positions much like the pictures they had taken the previous Friday after the graduating ceremony.

* * *

It was bittersweet farewell Bella thought as she drove home after one last group hug and one last picture. In every picture there had been taken she had made sure to stand close to Angela or Mike – especially Mike. She thought it was way harder for Mike to say goodbye although he already set up a "play date" with Ben, Eric and Tyler before they were scattering to all corners of the country. However he had assured her he didn't crave seeing either Jessica or Lauren – ever again. They had become too ditzy and too obsessed with getting him and Tyler back. He didn't want to keep flipping Jessica off. It was better not to see her at all Mike had confided in her. She actually didn't care if he hung out with Jessica because she completely trusted him. It had taken some time to trust him since she had been let down before by Edward and to some extent by Jacob. But Mike and she had agreed not to promise more than necessary. That way they couldn't accuse each other for something they didn't promise. When she came home she spotted both Charlie's cruiser and Mike's suburban in the driveway. Somehow he had managed to beat her home. She smiled fondly at the prospect of spending the evening with two of the three most important men in her life.


	23. A Fun Afternoon

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**July 20****th**** 2006**

In was around lunchtime and Bella was just waiting for her shift to end. She had gotten the afternoon off with payment. "Newton's Olympic Outfitters" were closing early today because Mr. and Mrs. Newton were attending some kind of convention in connection with the store. Unfortunately Mike had to stay behind since their replacements were coming around to learn the ropes. There hadn't been many customers since they opened in the morning. It had been kind of boring in Bella's opinion. Bella absentmindly flipped through a magazine when the bell above the door rang. She looked up and saw Jake.

"What brings you to my neck of the wood?" Bella teasingly asked closing the magazine.

Jake rolled his eyes and scanned the room making sure no customers or Mrs. Newton eavesdropped. When he was satisfied after founding that she was alone in the store. He lowered his voice, "Well Angela is away. She is visiting a relative with her family. And I-I kind of thought it's a long time we hung out – you know – just the two of us – alone. And besides you're leaving soon…"

Bella nodded thoughtfully for a moment before answering, "Is Angela okay with it?"

"I wouldn't have asked if she wasn't! Will Mike be cool with it?"

"Don't know." Bella honestly answered, "Only one way to find out!"

Bella winked and left Jake standing by the counter while she went into the back where Mike was sorting camping chairs.

Ten minutes later she returned with a bright smile, "Yeah his cool with it."

He looked startled at her and shoved some brochures to the side.

"Sorry didn't mean to startle you." Bella shot him an apologetic look.

Jake shrugged, "No problem, Bells. When are you available?"

"My shift ends in fifteen minutes" Bella responded, "You have time?"

"Absolutely, Bells!" Jake grinned, "I'll wait outside."

* * *

Fifteen minutes later Bella and Mike were closing up.

"I wish I didn't have to stay." Mike sadley said.

Bella went over to him and looked lovingly at him before answering, "I know, sweetheart. Oh by the way who is it your parents have hired?"

He shrugged, "I think they are sophomores at Forks High. Don't really care – though."

"Are you eating dinner with me? Charlie's got the graveyard shift – and since your parents are out of town." Bella trailed off while getting her bag.

"Sure thing, babe." Mike cheerfully replied, "I'll text you later to let you know when I'm finished here. Should I bring an overnight bag?"

Mike walked her to the door and opened it for her. She didn't get the chance to respond when two teenagers passed by her.

She lingered at the door looking at him pity at him and said, "Have fun! I'll see you later."

"Thanks babe!" Mike said indignantly before continuing in a softer voice, "I'll bring it just in case…"

Bella winked at him and left the store.

* * *

Two hours later Bella and Jake were seated in front of his television flipping through the channels. Bella groaned at the thought of having to figure out what to do. They had already covered the basic gossip from the rumor mills of La Push and Forks. They had ate lunch

"Why isn't there anything good on TV?" Bella complained, "It's all reruns or general bad tv-shows and movies!"

At that moment Billy wheeled into the living room and looked at his son and Bella slumping on the couch.

"Why don't you two go outside?" Billy suggested, "The weather is nice."

Jake pouted, "What if we don't want to go outside?"

Billy just shook his head not understanding a thing which made him suspiciously.

Instead he puzzled asked, "Why not?"

"Because if we go out, we have to deal with the rest of the world." Jake said groaning.

And Bella added, "Plus Jake and I haven't spent much time together - just the two of us."

Upon seeing Billy's face, Bella blushed and stuttered, "No, not in that way, Billy! As friends! We are both 100 % committed to other people."

"Oh I see…" was Billy's only response.

"Let's get out of here, shall we Bells?" Jake said coming to her rescue.

They left the Black residence in a hurry without looking at Billy.

"So what now?" Bella prodded.

Jake looked at her and scratched his head, "Got an idea!"

"What?" she curiously retorted.

Jake leaned closer to her and whispered, "Motorcycles. It's been a while."

"I like where you're going!" Bella smirked.

"Yeah? Seriously?"

"Sure! Let's go! I have to back before dinner. Mike's coming over..." Bella looked at her watch and deemed it possible to ride the bikes for a while before heading back to Forks.

They quietly sneaked their bikes out of the shed next to the Black residence. Soon they were pushing them up a trail leading away from Billy and into the wilderness. It was a well-known secret among the Pack and imprints that Bella and Jake had built the bikes from scratch and from time to time rode them. However it was still a very obvious that neither had told their fathers because they knew they wouldn't approve – at all. Especially Charlie would be against it since the bikes were illegal and their riders didn't have a driver's license. This meant it was really the only secret that mattered Mike didn't know, but Bella had every intention of telling him of this as well because she secretly dreamed of getting a proper license. She still felt the freedom and the adrenaline rush when riding the bike. Jake had confided to her that he felt the same way – when he changed into a wolf. Bella sometimes wondered what Edward would say if he knew of this particular hobby. He would probably have a fit and forbid her from ever riding again because it was too dangerous.

* * *

Three hours later with much banter and laughing Bella said goodbye to Jake. Bella checked her cell phone before leaving and saw one new message. She clicked on it and her eyes lit up with excitement. Mike was waiting for her at Charlie's. She had given him her keys before leaving work. Charlie wouldn't mind her doing that. He had come to trust and respect Mike even more after the Newtons had invited Charlie and her to graduation lunch at their place.

* * *

**AN: The end is near my faithful darlings. Thank you so much for receiving my first fanfiction with so much love and for not commenting on my bad spelling or grammatical errors ;) ****It has been an accomplishment for me (as a perfectionist) to publish the chapters (since the majority) hasn't been checked for errors and the like.**** This has definitely made me think of writing another fanfiction.**

**I don't know if I split the epilogue up into two chapters – yet. It depends on so much – mostly my life outside the computer or if I get an idea to a story that just has to see the light.**


	24. Decisions

**Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**September 4th 2006**

Bella was pacing up and down like a lioness in a cage thinking about the past few days. Mike and she had arrived in Boston four days ago to meet the Cullens prior to the meeting the Volturi. The Cullens didn't think that bringing Mike was a good idea and it had taken a lot of yelling from Bella and growling from some members of the Cullens before Bella had put her foot down and had it her way. She had been unyielding in her decision to keep Mike in the loop in regard with everything. Where she went, he went and where he went, she went– that simple was things. They were a team. Bella let out a snort when thinking of it which made all in the room look up at her. She didn't see them as she was too occupied with her own thoughts and the others thought it was better not to disturb her.

She was happy with the fact that the Cullens had managed to persuade the Volturi to come to Boston instead of them and Bella and Mike going to Italy. Aro, Caius and Marcus had happily obliged since they would do everything in their power to either get Bella turned or to kill the Cullens; bar of course Edward and Alice. The latter two were invaluable because of their gifts and would be a great asset in the Volturi guard. In this moment the Volturi was on their way from Logan International Airport. Alice had determined four days would be enough to work out a plan. Alice had tried to figure out via her psychic abilities of who they would bring however her efforts were futile. Consequently everyone had been nervous when they went to pick the enemy up. Another thing Bella was happy with was the fact she in agreement with Carlisle had decided they could find their own way to the house in the outskirts of Boston. The house was much like the one in Forks and was owned by the Cullens.

Bella really had hoped she knew exactly which people – or vampires – who would walk through the door any moment. And the worst part? She felt like throwing up! Mike was faring no better than his girlfriend although he was quietly sitting on the couch trying not to be bothered by the situation – at all. His hands were clasped so tightly together his knuckles were white. Both Bella and Mike were white as sheets.

Emmett had been focusing on when he could hear a car coming down the dirt road and suddenly he perked up, "They'll be here in five minutes – I think."

Bella whirled around and looked wide-eyed at him and plunged herself down on the couch next to Mike. Jasper walked around the couch and put a hand on each of Bella and Mike's shoulders. He could feel them shivering of fright underneath his touch. Slowly he felt how his gift did its job and they calmed down a bit. Carlisle and Esme was standing at the fire place looking paler than usual. Now it was Edward who paced back and forth with a grim look on his face while Alice tried to calm him down. Emmett and Rosalie were standing at the entrance to the kitchen looking as pale as ever.

Before any of them knew of it the door flung open and a vampire with long black hair walked in. Bella supposed it was Aro, one of the vampire kings. He had four vampires in tow – the guard she correctly deduced. All five vampires had crimson eyes, but were varying in size. Two of them – a boy and a girl – couldn't be more than fourteen, one was built like Emmett and the last of Aro's companions had an olive complexion. She was floored of how gorgeous and dangerous they in reality were.

"Sorry! We're late." Aro nonchalantly said.

Carlisle cleared his throat, "That's fine. Maybe introductions might be in order? Yes?"

They all nodded and Carlisle continued, "Standing behind the couch is Jasper. Standing next to me is my wife Esme, the two at the entrance to the kitchen is Emmett and Rosalie. Edward and Alice are standing on either side of Jasper. And sitting on the couch is…"

"Bella!" Aro finished Carlisle's sentence.

He slowly made his way to where Bella sat and looked her up and down with a curious glimpse in his eyes.

"Never seen such a beautiful creature." Aro said in a tender voice, "No wonder Eddie fell deeply in love with her."

He reached over to touch her hand, but was intercepted by Edward.

"Don't touch her!" Edward snarled and plopped down on the arm wrist of the couch next to Bella.

"– And don't call me Eddie!" Edward sneered.

"Maybe you would be so kind introducing your companions?" Carlisle politely said effectively cutting off Edward.

Aro looked quietly at his four companions and gestured to the girl, "This is Jane."

Jane stepped forward and sent them all a menacing look that gave Bella chills running down her spine. She said hello trough gritted teeth and stepped back into the line.

"This is Alec, Jane's brother." Aro gestured to the boy who stepped forward with viciously smile playing on his lips. He politely said hello as well.

Aro sighed and waved the one built like Emmett forward, "Felix."

He smiled sincerely at them and instead of saying hello, he just waved at them.

"And last we have Demetri." Aro simply stated beckoning the last vampire in the line to step forward.

He stepped forward as he didn't care about any of them and sent them a tight lipped smile.

Aro scanned the room and finally found that Bella wasn't the only human in the room. Alice had seen this coming and gestured to Jasper who quickly caught on and sat on the armrest next to Mike.

"Who is that?" Aro calmly inquired while pointing a crooked finger at Mike.

Carlisle in an equal calm voice answered him, "This is Mike. I believe him to be Bella's true mate however I need a friend of mine to confirm it."

"Is that so?" Aro thoughtfully muttered mostly to himself before speaking up, "So you're saying that Eddie – oh sorry – Edward isn't her true mate?"

Bella looked astonished from Carlisle to Aro, "Wait, why didn't you say anything?"

"I'm sorry Bella, but I didn't tell either of you since I wasn't sure."

Bella didn't look satisfied with the answer, "Why now?"

"Why not?" Carlisle countered with a bright smile playing on his lips.

Aro broke their exchange, "Have you gotten a plan Carlisle? Or are we going to have to kill you all?"

"Yes, we've got a plan – and no killing!" Edward meddled in their conversation.

"What is it?"

The Cullens and Bella and Mike shared an awkward look trying to decide who should speak up. Bella finally cleared her throat and stuttering said, "Well, we have already put off my change due to some unfortunate circumstances. In the meantime a lot of things have happened and I no longer have a wish of being turned."

Aro was about to say something when Bella waved her hand signaling him to be quiet and continued with more confidence in her voice, "However the Cullens, Mike and I have talked and talked over the past few days. The decision I have reached – I mean we have reached is if we can't get out of it alive I – eh – we want to be changed. But only if there isn't other options available."

"Hmm…" Aro looked thoughtful for a moment, "There is no way out – for any of you – alive, that is. My brothers and I have reached that decision a long time ago. It has just been a question of when!"

"Then I guess we'll get turned." Bella said matter-of-factly, "Because I will not be responsible for anyone's death, if there is a way out. But I'm only getting turned if you allow Mike to be turned as well. I'm not leaving my potential mate as a human!"

"Very well. I agree to this." Aro stated with a whimsical smile, "You drive a hard bargain, Bella. I admire that. You've got a week to sort out your things and living arrangements on three conditions."

Carlisle looked a little uncertain, "What are these?"

"One, After they've turned they must follow your diet."

Carlisle nodded in agreement.

"Secondly, You have to split up, Carlisle. You're coven is becoming too big and too powerful."

Again Carlisle nodded in confirmation, "How to you propose us splitting up?"

"That's up to you." Aro coldly responded.

"And what do you mean by becoming too powerful?" Emmett icily interjected, "We only have three – Alice, Edward and Jasper with gifts."

Aro turned to look at him with a smug smile, "Because I know what gift Bella will be bestowed upon her change. I've suspected it for a while…And with the gift Bella is bringing into the mix – you're almost unbeatable."

"I understand." Carlisle smoothly said, "We'll figure out how to do it. But I want to have three months to do so."

Bella looked flabbergasted at Aro's statement. He knew she would have gift, did Carlisle know? Bella's eyes darted to where Carlisle stood. He hadn't moved an inch since the conversation started. Carlisle gave her a curt nod in return confirmed he knew and mouthed he would talk to her later about it. She turned her head and looked at Edward and was about to ask him when she was cut off by Aro.

"Granted!" Aro coolly replied, "Thirdly, Carlisle, you've used all the passes we have given you in making this coven. Therefore, we'll check in on you once in a while to make sure you aren't telling more mortals of our existence!"

"And if we do?" Rosalie venomously prodded.

Aro looked at Rosalie, who stood next to her husband, "You'll be sorry if you do. No more strikes!"

With that salute Aro turned around beckoning his companions to follow him. He opened the door and let them walk out first.

One last time Aro turned around, "It was nice to see you all again – especially you, Bella. We'll be back in a week to check up on your newest family members."

* * *

AN: Okay, this was supposed to be the epilogue! This chapter wasn't planned at all - however it miraculously transformed into a chapter instead of the aforementioned epilogue. Well, I don't suppose you'll have anything against it. This just means a longer story!


	25. Nightly Conversations

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

**September 5th 2006**

Bella watched Mike through the rays of moonlight. He looked so peaceful when he slept. Did he really grasp what he gave up to be with her? In any case he had to be turned or else the Volturi would kill him – he had no choice and neither did she for the matter. However she had had longer time to get used to and cope with things than him. She was a bit worried about how everything would go. She fidgeted with her cell phone looking at the clock – half past two. She couldn't sleep and decided to get a glass of water. She carefully disentangled herself from Mike and made sure not to wake him. She slowly made her way out of the bedroom and down the corridor. As she turned a corner she saw a light coming from a crack underneath the door. This meant he was in and alone watching over Mike and she. She never made impulsive decisions, but maybe her head would stop spinning with all these thoughts if she could get some of them answered. After a while of debating back and forth Bella took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

She slowly opened the door and peeked her head inside and quietly asked, "Are you busy? I can come back later."

Carlisle looked up and shook his head, "Better do it now when everyone's out hunting and Mike's sleeping."

Bella approached him and sat down in the chair in front of the desk while Carlisle moved around it and took the other chair next to her.

"So where to start?" Bella pondered out loud.

Carlisle looked at her with a soft smile, "How about the beginning?"

She nodded in agreement and mentioned him to continue without saying anything.

"I realized that you and Mike were true mates like every couple in this household as soon as I saw you together."

"How?" Bella looked astonished at this revelation.

Carlisle chuckled a little, "I guess it's the way you look at each other – and the way you behave around one another."

"That makes sense…" Bella trailed off, "How is it different from when Edward and I were together?"

"You seem much happier with Mike than with Edward, if I have to be honest with you – and I think I have!"

Carlisle laughed a little and Bella could see his golden eyes sparkled in the dim light the office offered. She shook her head and returned his smile a little.

They went quiet for a while before Carlisle continued, "However I've never seen two humans finding their true mates when still being human."

"Yeah, that's why I was so confused." Bella confessed, "You found a kinship in Esme while she was human – and Rosalie found one in Emmett, while he was human, right?"

Carlisle looked thoughtful for a moment before he realized it made sense what she said, "Yes. We did."

"So maybe Mike and I are true mates since we have been exposed to the supernatural world? Maybe awareness heightens everything?"

"Yes. Maybe. I need to speak with Eleazar of the Denali Coven before I dare make any conclusions. But that'll be after you're being turned."

"When are we going to it?" Bella inquired biting her lower lip.

"In two days. We don't have a lot of time – but we still need to notify the Pack in La Push – and give them carte blanche to tell Charlie everything." Carlisle carefully explained.

Bella's eyes were becoming misty and with a shaky voice said, "But – But – the Volturi said…"

"I know." Carlisle soothingly replied, "He's under the pack's protection because of his relationship to Sue Clearwater. She is after all the mother of two shape shifters. And don't forget he's an old friend of the Elders – especially Billy Black. They'll take care of him – I'm sure."

Bella looked tearfully up at him with her brown eyes clouded with tears and whispered, "I know. Will I ever be able to see him again? I know it's selfish to ask, but I – I have to."

Carlisle looked at her with pity in his eyes and considered pros and cons before answering her heartfelt question, "You will. In time. But in the meantime you can always talk with him over the telephone or Skype."

"I understand." Bella sniffled, "It's better than not communicating with him at all. Truth to be told, I have come to care and love him more than Renee, my mother. I know it's a bad thing to say…"

Carlisle tilted his head a little and cautiously watched the girl next to him. He was actually rendered speechless for some time and the silence fell upon them both.

Bella broke it by inquiring, "Can I ask you something in regard to what we talked about earlier about mates and stuff?"

Carlisle nodded and gestured her to continue.

"Is this the reason why Edward didn't fly off the handle when I told him about Mike and I?"

Carlisle looked startled at her question, "Perhaps. I actually don't know. Maybe he had an idea. Remember Alice and him rarely keep secrets from each other. She might have seen glimpse of your decisions even though she wasn't supposed to – and you might now have been aware of the fact. Your attraction towards Mike started a long time before we even came back. My guess it as good as yours. Just be happy he didn't give you a hard time with it. I have honestly never seen Edward in love before he met you. It was powerful to see my first son find love. And he'll in a way always be your first love. However I'm not the slightest sad that it didn't work out between you two. I got my daughter back in the end and a nice son-in-law. I just hope Edward someday will find his true mate."

Bella nodded in agreement to this and yawned.

"It's late – and I should get some sleep." Bella rubbed her eyes and stood up from the chair.

Carlisle nodded and suggested, "Perhaps. You should enjoy your last few nights as a human. You'll never get them back."

"I will. Thanks for the talk." Bella said turning around from the door with a smile playing on her lips.

Carlisle smiled softly at her, "You're welcome, Bella. Anytime. My door is always open if you need to talk."

"I know." Bella whispered, "Goodnight."

She closed the door behind her and made her way downstairs to get that glass of water. After she drank her water she walked back upstairs and slipped into the bed next to Mike.

* * *

"Where were you?" Mike sleepily asked.

Bella was surprised to find him more or less awake, "I thought you slept?"

"I did, sweetheart. Then I realized you weren't here. If you hadn't arrived in this moment, I was going to look for you." Mike trailed off.

Bella whispered, "Good thing I returned. Anyway I talked to Carlisle about some stuff."

"Oh!" Mike replied a little more awake, "Care to share?"

Bella reached over and turned the light on. He blinked his eyes a couple of times trying to get the drowsiness out of his eyes - and body in general. He sat up against the headboard and pulled Bella closer to him.

"Of course, I'll share, honey. Don't I always?"

She didn't wait for him to answer and launched her story. It took the better part of an hour explaining what Carlisle had said about the change, mates and the like.

"What about my parents?" Mike suddenly asked after a while in comfortable silence where they both pondered over what had been said.

Bella looked wide-eyed at his question because she had never taken them into the equation. Oh boy! What to tell them? Their only son died in a car crash? No that excuse wouldn't work if they returned to Forks and La Push to visit Charlie and the Pack.

She shrugged her shoulders, "I guess we'll have to ask Carlisle?"

"Yeah. We should probably do that first thing in the morning." Mike agreeing with her.

"Listen…" Bella uncertainty started, "I know you're worried about everything that's going on. The situation with your parents will be dealt with in a delicate way. It's their specialty to make things work. They wouldn't have survived for centuries if they didn't have the ability."

"I know, babe." Mike said placing a kiss on top of her head, "Maybe we should get some sleep?"

Bella honestly responded "I like that."

She reached over and turned off the light and they gave each other one last kiss. Soon after both Bella and Mike had drifted off to sleep.


	26. ChitChat

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**September 6th 2006  
**

Bella went down to the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee before finding a blanket in the living room. Quietly she passed by Edward who were playing with the keys on his piano. He looked up and sent her a sincere smile which she returned. Edward and she were home alone as Alice and Jasper were off doing their own thing, Emmett and Rosalie had gone hunting while Esme and Carlisle had asked Mike if he would join them for a little trip – they would be back in the morning. Bella had encouraged him to go with them because she already knew that Carlisle wanted to discuss how to handle his parents after the change – and who Mike felt most comfortable turning him. Deep in thoughts she slowly pushed the glass door aside and stepped out. She felt a shiver go through her although she had a fair amount of clothes on. She balanced her coffee, blanket and a chair moving the latter down to a little pond in the back of the garden. This spot made her feel like she could create an illusion of being all alone in the whole world. Actually that sentiment applied rather well to her current situation she sarcastically thought.

She sat down in the chair with an audible sigh. It was a beautiful autumn night with stars and an almost full moon gracing the dark sky. She tilted her head a little while keeping a firm grip on the cup. It was rare she was alone – or almost alone. The way the moonlight reflected in the pond always amazed her. It was just beautiful – and she couldn't believe in a few days she could gaze at the stars and moon all night without feeling the need to sleep. It was one of the perks of being a vampire she looked forward to the most. Sleeping had never really been her thing – nightmares still hunted her dreams. After snuggling up to Mike each night for the past months she had silently figured out it was Mike's fault her nightmares weren't regular visitors anymore. He gave her a sense of belonging, safety and had a calming effect on her – she supposed? It was hard to describe it. Bella shook her head a little and was pulled back into the peacefulness she always felt being completely by herself. However in the situation she could compare Edward and Mike directly since her nightmares about James and Victoria had heightened after the incident in Phoenix like her nightmares had been cruel in the wake of her eighteenth birthday. Another fact she contributed to Mike were that he actually slept and not looked creepily at her during the whole night like Edward had done. She shuddered at the thought. Why did she ever let things go that far? Oh right. I was in love. Bella bitterly thought and took a sip of her coffee trying to do the impossible – erasing all the memories regarding Edward watching her while she slept.

Bella pulled the blanket closer around her and let her thoughts wander off to other things – and yet not. They were still centered on Edward. Not what he had done in the past, but the fact they were alone in the house together for the first time since just before her eighteenth birthday. She wondered why he was so relaxed around Mike and her. Why he didn't fly off the handle when he learned of their relationship? What had he seen she didn't know of? Did he know which gift Aro talked about? And what gift would she have when turned? For the first time since they came back she was ready to volunteer to speak to him – alone.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't hear that her wish had been granted. She was shook from her thoughts when she smelled hot coffee in the air. Glancing out of the corner of her eye she saw Edward sitting next to her with a hot cup of coffee in his hands.

"How long have yo-you been here?" Bella stuttered.

Edward frowned a little and then shrugged his shoulders before responding, "Not long. 5 minutes or so. You looked so peaceful. I-I didn't dare to disturb you."

"Oh okay." Bella said a little confused about the whole situation .

He continued in a soft voice, "I thought you might want another cup of coffee?"

Edward offered her the cup which she gratefully took after putting her empty cup down on the grass. She took a sip and let the warmth fill her body from her toes to her fingertips.

"Thanks! I guess." Bella said not hiding the uncertainness in her voice.

Edward made a gesture with his hand that she knew meant you're welcome.

Silence fell upon them and Bella continued sipping the hot coffee.

"Is this weird – for you? I mean..." Edward trailed off.

Bella countered with a small smile, "Is it weird for you?"

"Honestly?" Edward slowly answered and after he had reflected on her question for a few minutes, "Yes. It is."

"To answer your question." Bella started biting her lower lip, "Yes, it is weird for me too."

"How do we make things less weird?" Edward chuckled.

Bella shook her head, "I don't know. We need an ice breaker. I guess?"

"Yes. We do." Edward agreed and added, "Do you have a proposal?"

Bella looked thoughtful for a moment and before she could come up with anything Edward beat her to the punch by answering his own question with a smirk, "Emmett and Rosalie broke two beds while having sex over the summer."

That made her first real smile spread across her face and she excitedly asked, "Really?"

He winked at her, "Don't want to answer that question. It was bad enough that I had to relive it via their thoughts. Oh sorry – via Emmett's thoughts!"

"Rosalie's better of hiding things?" Bella curiously asked.

Edward nodded, "Yes. She genereally is. However Carlisle is still the best."

"Must be the practice?" Bella offered.

Again Edward nodded.

"I bet Jasper and Alice are quit good at it as well?"

"Yes, they are both very good. However, as you know Alice and I don't keep many secrets from each other. Our gifts go well together..."

"I can imagiane that." Bella thoughtfully said and after taking a deep breathe she asked, "Do you remember what Aro said?"

"About?"

Bella took another deep breath before asking the question that had been burning inside her ever since the Volturi's visit, "What did Aro mean with the coven becoming too powerful when I'm changed?"

"Ahh I thought you had talked to Carlisle about that..." Edward trailed off. He pinched the bridge of his nose and decided it couldn't hurt telling her the truth, "Carlisle think that you're a shield which is why I can't read your mind. And his friend Eleazar from the Denali Coven agrees with him."

She scrunched her nose a little at the revelation and then prodded, "What does that mean?"

"It basically means that you can protect others from mental attacks. You see, Alice and Jasper can affect you physically while I'm not able to read your mind. You remember Renata?"

"The vampire, who always travels with the kings?"

"Spot on, love." Edward happily replied, "She's a physically shield which means she can protect Aro from Alice and Jasper, but I can still read his mind. Carlisle suspect and I tend to agree with him that Aro can't read you through your hand because it's a mental ability."

"But why wasn't she with them?" Bella confused probed while running a hand through her hair.

"Aro must have meant that we weren't a real threat to him or his guard. I think he was right in that decision. As long as Alec and Jane are there – no one can really touch him."

"When I get turned. I can protect others from Alec and Jane's gifts, right?" Bella, who now understood where Edward was going with the conversation.

"Exactly, love! That's why Aro fears you. Your shield is apparently more profound – I think – than Renata's."

Bella's coffee was cold now and she was starting to shiver a bit. Edward of course noticed and suggested, "Why don't we move our conversation inside? You're shivering..."

* * *

Ten minutes later they were seated in the kitchen with a pot of coffee in front of Bella.

"I'm really going to miss drinking coffee." Bella whispered taking a sip of the coffee.

Edward looked at her with sorrow in his eyes, "I know, love. Never wished this for you. But it might be for the best – after all."

"I know. You've always been opposed to me becoming a vampire. Nevertheless I think I–I was destined to become one as soon as I met – and fell in love with you..."

"But you never dreamed of dragging someone else into your destiny?"

Bella fidgeted a little with her cup looking down at the table, "No I didn't. One thing I've learned since coming to Forks is: You don't decide who you fall in love with."

"I agree, love." Edward said trying to hide the lump in his throat.

"I mean – the Pack doesn't decide for themselves...imprinting and such." Bella slowly added.

"At least the imprintee gets to decide what they want the other part do be."

Bella nodded, "Do you think it's fun for any of them if the imprintee decide to be just friends?"

"No, I don't. Actually I don't understand how it works…to be honest. Much easier with the true mate thing, us vampires have going on." He chuckled a little when he said the last part.

"Edward?"

"Yes, love?"

"I hope you'll find your Esme or Rosalie – God forbid – one day. I'll be rooting for you." Bella said with a sincer smile gracing her lips.

"I hope so too. And I hope in time we can become real friends." Edward replied looking like he could cry if he actually could.

"How do you think the family is going to cope with two newborns?" Bella asked changing the subject.

Edward frowned a little, "I don't know."

"Carlisle mentioned something about Alaska and the Denali Coven."

"Mm. I know." Edward answered with a shrug.

"I hate the family is going to be split up because of us." Bella tearfully stated.

"Not much we can do about it." Edward meekly stated.

When he caught Bella's tearful eyes, he quickly added, "The condition Aro made about giving us three month had been extended to a year because Eleazar from the Denali Coven laid down the cards for Marcus."

"Oh, that's great! Marcus is more reasonable than Aro?" Bella sarcastically asked shaking her head.

Edward snorted, "By far! He could see how difficult it would be with two newborns and with half the family gone..."

Bella glanced at her watched and was surprised to see it was 4 a.m. She didn't know how long they had spoken. It had been almost like catharsis getting rid of the awkwardness that had been a thick barrier between Edward and her since their return. They were definitely making progress and starting to mend their broken relationship.

"Maybe I should go to bed?" Bella pondered, "And the coffee pot is empty..."

Edward nodded, "I hope we can repeat this when everything is settled? You know when both you and Mike have gotten used to your undead life."

"I would like that." Bella said without missing a beat, "Goodnight Edward. Thanks for the company."

He sent her a lopsided smile in return and he tried not to let his eyes linger at her retreating figure.


	27. The Transformation Pt I

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**September 7th 2006**

Bella was sitting in the kitchen talking animatedly with Alice while eating breakfast. Rosalie was flipping through a magazine about cars in the chair near the window; Emmett and Jasper were playing some game on the PlayStation while Edward was in his room listing to music. Alice tilted her head a little, but didn't elaborate what she had heard to Bella. However the latter soon found out what Alice had heard when she heard car doors slam shut indicating Mike, Esme and Carlisle had returned.

Five minutes later they came into the living room and Carlisle called everyone to come. Alice happily skipped into the living room with Bella following in a more leisurely way. Everyone was gathered in the living room when Bella arrived and she made a beeline for Mike. He was sitting in a chair at the table in the living room smiling at her. She bent down and gave him a kiss before pulling the chair out next to his. Bella looked the table and saw Rosalie still hadn't moved from her chair nor put her magazine away which she thought was rather rude. But one could expect otherwise? Bella actually didn't think so even though she wasn't as cold towards either of them anymore Bella still respected her strange ways of behavior.

Mike cleared his throat and looked thoughtful for a moment as he had difficulties finding the right words to explain what he had discussed with Carlisle and Esme. Finally after he had cleared his throat again he shyly started, "As you know I've been discussing how to handle the situation with my parents with Carlisle and Esme last night."

They all smiled encouragingly at him because he had stopped talking and picked up where he left off, "We have decided it's best if I don't have contact with them – at all."

Bella noticed tears forming in his eyes and a quick scan around the table confirmed that the Cullens had notice too. They were looking away giving him an illusion of privacy – and Bella knew they were worried of intruding or overstepping their boundaries. Ever since Mike had started talking she had taken his hand and rubbed soothing circles. She slowly let go of his hand and reached for the box that contained the Kleenex. He gratefully accepted when she gave him a Kleenex. He dried his eyes and blew his nose. He finally pulled himself together and sadly continued, "You all know how it is to lose your family and not having contact to them. I'd say Bella is pretty lucky because she gets to keep her father and the Pack in her life after we are turned."

Edward looked like he was going to say something when Mike beat him to it, "Bella and I have already talked these things through – and you know – I'll still have Angela, who has been my friend for a long time. Hopefully Tyler won't be too biased and indoctrinated by Leah that he'll refuse to speak to me."

"Besides, Mike and I made an agreement." Bella interjected in support of her boyfriend.

"What kind of agreement?" Edward confused asked with a frown.

"That I'll cut all contact to my mother. I can't explain to her why I'm forever staying 18! You know?"

"Ahh, Yeas. That makes sense." Edward slowly conceded.

"Well, finished?" Mike retorted not happy with the interruption. He didn't wait for an answer from either Bella nor Edward and simply continued, "However I made a deal with Carlisle, that we not kill me in a car accident?"

"Why not?" This time it was Emmett who was confused.

"Because I can't do that to them. It's much better if I just go missing or drown – say on a camping trip? After a while they'll stop looking for me and pronounce me dead." He bluntly stated.

"What happens if you go to Forks with Bella to visit Charlie?" Edward inquired while pinching the bridge of his nose.

Carlisle was the one to answer the question with his usually calm demeanor, "He'll be staying in the house outside Forks. No one comes near our house."

"And it's very secluded." Esme added.

"Yes it is." Carlisle agreed and continued looking at each of them, "The plan is as following. Listens closely."

Everyone around the table including Rosalie, who had had joined them at the table sometime during the conversation.

Carlisle looked around with a satisfied look and seriously explained, "Bella and Mike decide to go camping. We set the fake camp up when they are changing with some of their stuff. We have already discussed how savvy and how much knowledge they have of the outdoors – and we came to the conclusion that every human make mistakes."

"So are we going to make it look like a bear attack?" Jasper asked wheels spinning in his head.

"I don't know." Carlisle said while mulling over the possibility, but in the end replied, "No. We did that with Emmett, who literary was attacked by a bear while hunting."

"How about a drowning accident?" Alice offered.

"What have you seen?" Esme softly asked already knowing what she had seen.

Alice pondered for a moment of telling them what she had seen, but one look from Edward made up her mind real fast and she swiftly responded, "That is the one thing that will work best because they don't necessary find a body – especially if they drown in a river which estuary into the Pacific Ocean."

"It could work." Mike trailed off.

Bella added having pieced the pieces together, "Not even the best swimmers can conquer a torrent."

"That's what we're going to do." Jasper quickly decided.

"Yesterday I sent an e-mail to my parents letting them know of my trip and it's something Bella and I have looked forward to do together. They think I'm out in the wilderness as we speak." Mike forlornly whispered.

Bella squeezed his hand and received a small smile from him in return. She had been quiet for a while, but spoke up, "I-I guess Charlie and the Pack knows about what's going to happen tonight. You know? The change?"

"Yes. They do." Carlisle softly confirmed.

Bella found his eyes and tenderly asked, "But they don't know how we officially going to die?"

"Actually. They do." Carlisle answered without showing any emotions.

"Oh. How?" Bella miserably prodded.

Alice took over explaining the situation from Carlisle and took her free hand, "Because I've had a vision two or three days ago showing this. I wasn't particularly looking at Mike's future when it popped up. Of course Edward saw what happened and we decided to call a meeting when you and Mike had gone to bed. We conceived the idea with Mike going on that trip with Esme and Carlisle because it would be much easier to talk to him without all of there. And lucky for us he stuck with the plan."

"I see." Bella trailed off and dropped the subject entirely by asking Mike, "Who's going to change you?"

"Carlisle." Mike simply replied.

Bella contemplated his reply for a while before urging him to come with an explanation to why he wanted Carlisle.

"Mostly because he's the one I trust the most."

"We completely understand, Mike. No hard feelings." Alice softly responded.

Mike asked his girlfriend with a gentle smile, "What about you, Bells?"

"Carlisle." Bella quickly replied with a shrug.

Carlisle only nodded because Bella knew he had known about her decision for a long time. She knew he was proud because he had managed to keep it from Edward who was always prying and reading their minds. Bella observed that the other Cullens especially Alice and Emmett looked a little sad when she made her choice. However Bella chose Carlisle for much of the same reasons as Mike had done – and besides she wouldn't want it any other way since that would make her have the same venom as her potential mate and the majority of the family in general.

* * *

EdPOV

The time had come for Bella and Mike to say goodbye to their human life and welcome to their life as a vampire. They had decided to do it in the master bedroom of the house since it was the biggest. Bella and Mike had been given a drop with morphine and a heavy sedative drug in an attempt to at least ease the pain a little and not to let them feel when being bitten by Carlisle. In such times it came in handy having a doctor around Edward thought. He had helped Carlisle set the whole thing up since he once had attended medical school.

The rest of the Cullens joined Edward and Carlisle after they latter two had set the drops up. All they could do now was to wait until Bella and Mike showed signs of being in another world. So they just stood there looking at the two figures in the bed in silence. A half hour went before Carlisle checked them one last time and decided it was now. He slowly sat down next to Mike leaning over and finding his neck. He bit down in the flesh and pumped venom into the wound. He moved to the other side of the bed and did the same to Bella albeit a little more tender and careful. Carlisle stood up and reached for the handkerchief Esme held out to him. After drying his mouth he left to go hunt. He gave the responsibility of overseeing the change to Edward in the meantime. All they could to now was being patient Edward bitterly thought while he sat down in the chair next to the window. The silence was still thick and not even Emmett dared to crack a joke.

Edward barely noticed Rosalie moving to Mike's bedside and taking his hand nor did he notice that Emmett and Esme did the same with Bella. He smiled a little as he knew Rosalie had a heart of gold – she just didn't like to flash it.

He started to mull over Bella's choice of choosing the undead life rather than to die. It wasn't because he was hard-headed or anything like that, but he still would have preferred her as a human rather than a vampire. However he had to admit that he'd rather see her as a vampire than six feet under which would have been the outcome if she wasn't changed. He still felt a sharp pain in his chest when he looked at her; it reminded him that she didn't belong to him nor would she ever do. She belonged with Mike – of all people. Edward chuckled little when he realized how ironic it was; he had been opposed to Mike from the get go because he had felt threatened when Mike had taken an interest in Bella. Time for a vampire passes by without much fanfare since being an immortal is tiresome. A day can feel like a year and vice versa. Most days felt like years until he met Bella – finally he had met his true love and wouldn't be alone anymore. How wrong he was. Sure he had his family, but the fact they were mated made a difference – not to them – but to him. They had something with each other he never could be apart off since he didn't know how love felt. He didn't know what to expect when coming back last spring. The one thing that had never crossed his mind was her moving on with someone else, which actually were an unfair assumption for him to make being wise after the event. Of course she had moved on – not to the mutt as he expected when he picked up from his family Bella was seeing someone and it was beginning to get serious. He had been floored when she revealed who it was – Mike Newton – of all boys in the neighborhood. Though he supposed Mike was a better choice than the mutt she called her best friend. Actually he had gradually warmed up to Mike over time and although he would never admit it out loud to anyone. For once he was happy he had the gift of reading minds and not one of the other Cullens had it. Now he knew why they didn't like when he pried too much. As long as she was happy, he would be too. Yet, it didn't change the fact she would _never_ be _his Bella_ again. That chapter was closed and another was opening. This was the main reason why he didn't fly off the handle when she told him. He would rather have Bella as a friend – then not having her at all.

His musings were interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He shook the last thoughts out of his head and turned around to face Carlisle. Edward had been so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn't hear Carlisle return to the room.

"Looks like it's going as expected." Carlisle whispered.

Edward nodded and looked at the bed with everyone except Jasper gathered around it trying in vain to ease their pain.

"Where's Jasper?" Edward curiously asked.

"He couldn't deal with all the emotions. So he left to deal with the fake camp." Emmett snorted.

"I see." Edward slowly answered, "Maybe he needs help? Carlisle do you need me here?"

Carlisle shook his head, "No, I don't think so. I'll call if I need help."

Edward nodded and hurried out of the room.

* * *

**AN: I hate when fanfictions writers change point of view midway through a chapter and I swore I'd never do that. Alas I found it necessary to so here - and I believe I've done it once before in an earlier chapter. It's around 5 a.m. where I am right now. I've been writing all night to get at least two chapters done. No sleep to me :(**


	28. The Transformation Pt II

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**September 8th 2006.**

EdPOV

Bella and Mike had been in process of turning for nearly a day now. The Cullens had managed to fake their drowning and notify Charlie of it even though it was out of his jurisdiction. It was just a curtsey so he wouldn't be too overwhelmed when the message ticked in that they had found a campsite with his daughter's and her boyfriend's belongings and ID in form of driver's license and Mike's car which Jasper had drove to the site. Charlie would be given the grim task of informing Mike's parents of his unfortunate situation and thus it was equally to prepare him for that since he knew they were alive and well.

When Edward, Jasper and Emmett had returned they had yet another family meeting. The latter had joined the former at the campsite late that evening. The whole family gathered in the master bedroom so they still could keep an eye on the two figures on the bed.

"Are we going to move them before the transformation is complete? Surely we can't stay in Boston with two newborns." Rosalie uncharacteristically caringly asked.

"No, it's not safe." Carlisle conceded.

"And it would be best to move them as soon as possible." Jasper added.

"How do we do it?" Emmett kindly asked while looking tenderly at Bella.

"We take two cars. Carlisle and Bella in one. Edward and Mike in the other with Emmett driving one of them and Rosalie the other." Alice instantly said.

"What about me?" Esme, a little uncertain asked.

"You can choose which car you want to go in." Alice replied padding her arm in reassurance.

Esme smiling nodded and looked pretty relieved in Edward's opinion. He wasn't keen on the arrangement of being in the same car as Mike. He might tolerate the guy, but that didn't mean he wanted to take care of him more than necessary. He couldn't say no to Alice's proposal and bit his arguments back gritting his teeth. A more pressing question was burning inside Edward about where Alice and Jasper fit into the picture and was about to ask when Alice beat him to it.

"Jasper and I are going separately since it's a bit overwhelming for Jasper – and I believe you can take care of Bella and Mike fine without our help."

"Besides we thought we might as well drop in on the Pack on our way to Alaska's wilderness. And inform the Volturi of our moving plans." Jasper hastily added as he had to justify why they weren't going directly to their home in the mountains some distance from Anchorage.

"Well, let's go." Rosalie cut in effectively ending the discussion.

Carlisle and Edward started to untangled Bella and Mike from the drops while the rest of the family quickly put their already packed bags in the trunk of the cars.

They had decided to take Emmett's jeep and Rosalie's BMW convertible while Alice and Jasper would take her Porsche. The cars left in the garage would they get at a later point among them were Edward's Volvo and Carlisle's Mercedes.

Edward looked at Carlisle who carefully placed Bella in the backseat of the jeep. He carefully lifted her head so her head would be placed in his lap. Emmett slowly backed out of the garage after giving Rosalie one last kiss and waving to the rest. Esme had decided to travel with Mike to relieve Edward of the awkwardness of holding on to Mike. She had instinctively known how unhappy and wary he had felt about the whole situation.

* * *

EmPOV

Emmett never understood why Edward felt such an animosity against the poor guy. Nevertheless he was happy he had been tasked with driving Bella and not Mike for one reason only – Bella was his little sister – no matter how hard she tried to fight it or say anything different. They reached the boarder to Canada and Emmett found the new pass boards. Jasper had paid J.J. Jenks a visit some days ago retrieving new pass boards for them all. Emmett still thought it was pretty funny that J.J. Jenks was so scared of Jasper that he was willing to do everything to satisfy Mr. Hale. He giggled a bit, which caught Carlisle's attention.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Oh. Just thinking of J.J. Jenks and how scared he is of Jasper." Emmett snorted while rolling his eyes.

Carlisle caught Emmett's eyes in the rearview mirror and sent him a smile.

"How is she?" Emmett suddenly asked becoming very serious.

Carlisle looked down and placed a hand over her heart and whispered, "It looks good. Might be another day before she wakes up to her new life."

"The venom is spreading quickly?" Emmett mused while opening the window ready to show the pass boards to the boarder control.

Carlisle nodded, but didn't answer since Emmett was talking to boarder control. They passed it without a hitch explaining that Bella was sick and had taken some sleeping pills because she was sleep deprived.

"To answer your question with more than just a nod. Yes. The venom is moving a lot faster than I expected. In fact I estimated she would wake in three days rather than just two." Carlisle patiently explained.

Emmett was about to reply when Carlisle received a text. Carlisle swiftly read it and sent a reply to Edward. He looked up and saw Emmett raising an eye brow.

"Apparently Mike's much the same as Bella. I must have done a good job." Carlisle pondered.

"I think it's weird. Emmett stated with eyes focused on the road.

"How so?"

"I was mauled by a bear and took three days. Rosalie was bruised and battered and took three days. Esme was near death when transformed and took three days. Yet neither Bella nor Mike is in mortal danger and they take two days. I simply don't understand it."

Carlisle looked thoughtful for a moment before coming with a possible explanation to Emmett. He finally found a plausible explanation, "I think it's because they haven't lost any blood or other fluids from their body. And their bodies aren't as battered as yours, Rosalie's or Esme's were at the time of your transformation. You were all lying on your deathbed and I literary saved your lives. This is not the case with Bella and Mike."

"What about Edward then?" Emmett asked not convinced of Carlisle's explanation.

"He was also on his deathbed. He was very ill with the Spanish flu." Carlisle patiently explained.

"He didn't lose any blood. Did he?" Emmett confused prodded.

"No, he didn't. His immune system was nonexistent and he couldn't keep anything down; neither food nor fluids."

"Actually, it makes perfectly sense." Emmett said now convinced that Carlisle had made a plausible explanation.

The sun was sitting when they reached the house in Alaska.

Jasper was sitting on the hood of Alice's car waiting for them.

"The others arrived 10 minutes ago." Jasper informed them.

"Missed me?" Emmett said with a raised eye brow.

"You wish!" Jasper retorted with a smile, "But no, for your information I thought it would be appreciated that I let you know the others had arrived."

"Easy tiger! Just kidding!" Emmett said with a booming laugh.

Jasper just shook his head and gave Emmett a backslap when he passed him.

"Ouch!" Emmett cried, "Why'd you do that for? I was just kidding!"

Jasper didn't respond but rolled his eyes and grabbed a couple of bags and left.

* * *

Emmett quickly caught up with Carlisle who was carrying Bella. Soon they reached the house which in Emmett's opinion was magnificent. There were two major reasons why he loved this house more than the others. The first one was the view over the snow covered mountains. Secondly it had the perks of being so secluded it was virtually impossible for non vampires to access it which meant they could walk freely outside even when there was sun shine. On top of this the house was built into the mountain with a wide porch accessed via the living room and from the front door. No cars could make the journey so they had to park their cars in a garage some miles down trail and walk the rest of the way on a trail made of gravel and dirt and it was sometimes covered in snow. And he always thought it was fun climbing the steep trail leading up to the house. As a vampire it was a piece of cake climbing the steep trail.

Emmett barrelled through the front door and swept Rosalie into a hug while the rest of the Cullens just chuckled and went their merry way. Carlisle was hot on his heels and made his way over to Esme with Bella in his arms. He bent down and kissed her.

"How is she?" Esme concerned inquired.

"She's fine. Everything is going as planned. No need to fret, dear."

"I'm happy with that." Esme smiled.

"Where's Mike?"

"In the master bedroom."

Carlisle followed Esme into the master bedroom where he saw Mike lying peacefully – however he knew it hurt like hell inside him. He carefully placed Bella next to Mike and placed a kiss on her for head.

"How is she?" Edward had turned up from his room where he had been tiding up.

"She's fine. Everything is going as plan." Carlisle repeated the same thing he had told Esme five minutes prior.

"That's good to hear."

"I see Mike is doing well." Carlisle said in a satisfied voice, "I would estimate them to wake up around this time tomorrow."

Edward nodded, "Maybe it's not a good idea if I'm here? I wouldn't want to upset either of them."

"Yes. Maybe you shouldn't." Carlisle regretfully agreed with his oldest son.

Alice skipped into the room before Edward could answer. She immediately hugged Carlisle and whispered, "It's great they're both doing well."

She let him go with a smile and moved towards the side of the bed where Bella lay. She stroked Bella's hair and whispered, "I'm so proud of you, Bella."

Alice stood up and took a good look at them and scrunched her nose, "Maybe we should change them into some other clothes and maybe wash them a bit. I'm sorry to say this, but they smell horrid."

"I completely agree." Rosalie said with a hint of disdain in her voice.

"Girls!" Esme chided.

"But it's true." Rosalie repeated while wrinkling her nose as to empathize her statement.

"Very well." Esme said with a sigh.

"Yay!" Alice gleefully shrieked.


	29. Gazing at the Stars

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**September 9th 2006.**

The sun had just set over the snow covered mountains when Bella started to stir indicating she was waking up from her two days in painful agony. Everyone but Edward gathered around the bed to see what was happening, but pulled back a little to give her space, when she batted her eyelashes. Next to her Mike was mirroring her movements and they sat up at the same time. Crimson met crimson for the first time and at first they looked confused at each other before realizing what had happened. The Cullens made no sudden movements nor did they interrupt the two newborns in fear of being torn to shreds.

Carlisle cautiously moved towards the bed with the palms turned to them as to tell them I won't harm you. Both newborns let him examine them without a sound.

"How are you feeling? Thirst?" Carlisle asked while looking Bella into the eyes to see if it was fine.

"I'm feeling good. Not really." Bella answered with a lazy smile.

Carlisle nodded in response and moved to Mike, "How are you feeling? Thirst?"

"I'm feeling okay." Mike responded warily and hastily added, "I'm hungry."

"I propose you hunt separately, if you'll agree to it." Carlisle asked stepping back a little.

They both nodded to his suggestion.

* * *

Bella had never felt such a sensation when running. Now she fully understood what Edward had meant when he said he took out his frustrations by running. It was amazing how fast vampires could run. Never in a million years had she thought it was such a good feeling. Bella was happy that it had been Rosalie, Esme and Emmett who had been assigned as her babysitter while Alice, Carlisle and Jasper acted as Mike's. She carefully listened to Rosalie's explanation of how to take down a mountain lion. They reached a rocky plateau where Bella caught the scent of a mountain lion. The three more experienced vampires held back and let Bella sneak up on the prey by herself. The mountain lion hissed when it saw her, but she really didn't care and lunged at it. She managed to wring its neck after a short fight with she had easily won and drained it dry. Her three companions were in awe over what she had done. Not a drop of blood were gracing her clothes and she quickly dried her mouth with a napkin provided by Esme. Together they buried the mountain lions remains in a shallow grave in silence.

On their way back to the house Emmett broke the silence by asking incredulously, "How did you do that?"

"I-I ac-actually don't know." Bella stuttered confused.

"Yes. I must admit that I've never seen anything like it." Rosalie admitted while running a hand through her blond hair.

"Neither have I." Esme mused, "I wonder if Mike was as good?"

Nobody answered her because they all caught the scent of some hikers and fearing what Bella would do they guarded her closely and were on high alert. However they had nothing to fear in that regard since Bella strolled passed them in a distance without trying to do anything or making a beeline for them. This again left all four more confused as ever and they didn't speak on the rest of the way home.

In stark contrast to Bella's control Mike showed no such thing. They were taken aback at his appearance; he had blood all over and his was messy.

"I guess I fared better." Bella sadly muttered to herself – and of course everyone else.

"I guess you did." Mike miserably replied.

Bella looked startled at him when she heard his response, but quickly shrugged it off and went to him. She pulled him into a tight hug while he dry sobbed into her shoulder. She tried to soothe him in a futile attempt because he kept saying he would never learn how to do it. Her persistence paid of in the end since he finally relented and agreed with her. They simultaneously looked around and realized the Cullens were watching them from the porch. If Bella could have blushed there would be no doubt she would have sported a brilliant shade of red much to everyone's amusement – and she knew it.

"How about a shower and some clean clothes?" Alice quietly suggested.

"Yeah. It's probarly a good idea." Mike conceded.

"After you've finished, come back out here and we'll discuss how your first hunt went." Carlisle gently said.

* * *

Half an hour later the whole family minus Edward were sitting on the porch or leaning against the rails.

"Who'll go first?" Carlisle asked while looking around.

Esme cleared her throat and a little uncertainly said, "Well something peculiar happened during Bella's first hunt."

"Like what?" Jasper encouragingly asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, you saw how spotless her clothes were. I've never seen anyone taking down a prey so gracefully – maybe except Rosalie." Emmett thoughtfully replied.

"And that's not the only thing that happened." Rosalie coolly added looking at Bella, who had bowed her head down because she still didn't like being at the center of things – vampire or not!

Rosalie inhaled a deep breathe (she really didn't need), but the pause were effectual and added to the suspense. Just before Carlisle was about to say something she put her hand up and stopped him, "On our way back to the house we caught the scent of some lost hikers. We of course immediately were on high alerts, but Bella casually walked past them as if they weren't there."

"Yes. It was all very weird and confusing." Emmett added while scratching his head.

"We instantly thought that she has an extraordinary control. What do you think, Carlisle?" Esme eagerly asked her husband.

Carlisle looked thoughtfully for a moment before cautiously said, "Ahh, yes. It looks like she is one of her kind. Until now Rosalie and me is the only ones never really tasted human blood and our bloodlust isn't like others. I'd say welcome to the club and enjoy the fact you aren't craving human blood."

Bella finally looked up and sent Carlisle an uncertain, but bright smile in return of his words.

"Where is Edward?" Bella suddenly asked, remembering she hadn't seen him since before the transformation.

"We thought it was best if he weren't here when you woke up since we didn't know if Mike felt threatened of his presence because of your history with him." Carlisle patiently explained.

"He's with the Denali Coven." Alice interjected and contemplatively added, "I guess we can send for him now. It doesn't look like Mike is feeling threatened by any males in Bella's presence."

"I guess you should call him." Bella sympathetically accepted and changed the subject, "How did Mike do at his first hunt? We already got mine covered."

"It was a bit messier than yours." Jasper softly chuckled.

"Hey!" Mike indignantly exclaimed.

"Well, it's true. And you know it." Jasper shot back with a raised eyebrow.

"Anyway." Alice cut their banter of by continuing, "He struggled with the black bear before killing it. Otherwise he was like any other newborn, right Carlisle."

Carlisle nodded confirming what Alice had said. He was cut off by his cell phone signalling that he had an incoming call. A couple of minutes later Carlisle hung up and informed the rest of the family that the Volturi would come around the next day to check up on the transformation. They all nodded in response and asked if they could leave which Carlisle agreed to.

* * *

Later that night Bella and Mike were alone sitting closely together outside on a rock looking up at the dark sky sprinkled with stars and an almost full moon.

"How are you really feeling?" Bella tenderly inquired.

"Honestly?"

"Honestly, baby." Bella softly replied.

"I feel like - I don't know..." He paused.

"It's hard to explain. Isn't it?" She contemplated.

"Yeah. But I like to try."

"Of cause." She sent him a tender smile and squeezed his hand.

"I feel like I lost everything - and then I have gained so much more. I'll always miss my parents and the rest of my family. In the end I get to live and love you for eternity. Once I thought I would get a football scholarship and go off to college. Find a girlfriend - maybe even get back together with Jessica. Get marry and have kids. Then you came along and I fell head over heels in love with you and wanted to be with you. I won't lie because I were devastated when you started going out with Edward and then you showed an interest in Jacob. I'm just truly happy you gave me that apology since that changed caused my change of heart and started dating you."

"Oh my." Bella stuttered looking stunned.

He made a dismissal hand wave at her and continued, "Never doubt and never forget I never was forced into this life. And never doubt or forget my love for you is endless."

In response Bella leaned in and gently kissed him. She met his eyes when she pulled back. Never blinking one bit she responded, "Never doubt and never forget that I love you too. No one means more to me than you. Mike, you are the perfect blend of the two other boys I've ever loved in my life besides you."

"So you did love Edward and Jacob." Mike said in a hurt voice looking down at their intertwined hands.

"Let me explain. Will you?"

He nodded in response locking eyes with her once again.

"Edward, was my first love. And Jacob is my best friend. If Jake was my sun, Edward was my moon. One is a hothead the other is just too cold. Basically they are as day and night. You are the perfect blend of these two and that's why I love you. And I'm always here if you need to talk about your family and friends. I know it's unfair I get to keep my father and my two best friends - although via Skype and e-mails for now - and you get to keep nothing."

He swallowed the lump in his throat and gave her a kiss on top of her head.

"Thanks, Bells. I talked to Angela and she promised me to get updates on my parents - and pictures. On top of that she's trying to get some of my favorite stuff and store it until I can get it. I'm sure she will succeed in the mission." Mike said chuckling.

They fell into silence and just gazed up at the stars thinking of their new undead life together.


	30. Shield & Persuasion

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**September 10th 2006.**

For the first time – in like forever – Bella saw the break of day coming when standing in the window in the bedroom she shared with Mike. It was the most beautiful thing she had seen in a long time. She could see the shadows from the sun which was just behind the snow covered mountains. It looked like it would be a beautiful day. Bella sighed and continued to watch the sun rise – and was becoming more in awe with every minute passing by. She shook her head and tore her eyes from the amazing sight and made her way downstairs. She found Emmett teaching Mike how to use the remote control to the television without breaking it in the process. Rosalie was absent-mindedly flipping through yet another magazine about cars – trying to give the impression she didn't care of her husband's childish antics. In reality Bella could see her mouth curving into a slight smile which she tried to cover up. She could hear Alice and Jasper talking to each in low voices other in the adjoining room. She tried hard to tune them out as not to intrude in their conversation and she knew in time she would be able to completely ignore them. Carlisle was sitting on a chair in the kitchen reading the newspaper with Esme silently arranged some roses in a vase at the table in the living room while keeping an eye on Emmett. Bella plopped down next to Mike and pulled her legs up under her and made herself comfortable with a cushion behind her back.

"God morning – or whatever it is..." Bella trailed off.

"Morning, Bells." Mike said with a lopsided smile and broke away from his videogame to give her a kiss which soon became more than just a chaste kiss on the mouth.

"Oh! My eyes!" Emmett exclaimed hiding his eyes with a nearby cushion.

"Emmett!" Rosalie chided and slapped him with the magazine.

"Ouch!" Emmett indignity said while rubbing his arm.

"You're making Bella and Mike uncomfortable." Rosalie added rolling her eyes and turned back to her magazine.

Bella glanced at Mike and saw a sheepish smile playing on his lips – and she was sure she mirrored his look to a T. The boys once again concentrated on their game and there fell a comfortable silence in the room. Everyone doing their own thing and eventually Jasper joined Emmett and Mike and Alice quietly sat down with a fashion magazine and started to read.

* * *

Four hours later they were disturbed by a knock on the door before they heard people entering. They all looked at the door to see who would emerge. Bella figured it would Edward returning in the company of Carlisle's friend Eleazar. She only assumed this because Edward had to be present when the Volturi showed up.

"Hello, my dear friend." Eleazar happily cried and shook Carlisle's hand.

"Hello. Thanks for coming." Carlisle kindly replied with a much calmer demeanor than his friend.

Eleazar proceeded to kiss Esme, Alice and Rosalie on the cheek and shake hands with Emmett and Jasper before turning to Bella and Mike.

"You must be Bella. I've heard a lot about you from your family. It's finally nice to meet you." Eleazar smiled brightly at her.

"All good? At least I hope so. And it's nice to meet you too." Bella responded feeling a little bashful. She never liked being in the center of attention.

He nodded and turned his attention towards Mike, "And you must be Bella's mate. Mike – was it?"

Bella noticed Edward flinch when Eleazar had referred to Mike as her mate. Her train of thoughts were cut short when Mike modestly replied, "Yeah. I'm Mike. And actually we haven't found if Bella and I are true mates. But I sure hope so."

Bella smiled fondly at him, "So do I."

"Well…" Eleazar interjected, "I believe Carlisle called me to confirm your gift, Bella. And to see if Mike possesses one as well."

Both Bella and Mike nodded in agreement.

"If you'll let me?" Eleazar cautiously asked Mike.

"Be my guest. She's all yours."

Eleazar moved to stand in front of Bella and locked eyes with her for what felt like hours in her opinion. In reality it only took a few minutes before he had seen what he needed.

"You have a gift as everyone in this room suspected. You're a shield."

"I know." Bella said matter-of-factly with a smile.

"You do?" Carlisle looked a little taken aback and quickly regained control over his voice and asked, "How?"

"I guessed." Bella retorted shrugging her shoulders. She conveniently left out her conversation with Edward since it really didn't matter how she had guessed it. She was known to be very perceptive about things – after all she had almost guessed the Cullens secret all by herself – with only a little help from Jake's story about "the Cold Ones".

"Hmm. Then I don't think we shall delve more into the subject. Clearly Bella already knows what it means to be a shield." Eleazar said a little miffed and clearly looked a little offended of the fact she didn't need him to explain more about the situation.

Bella felt a little bad for him and offered with a small smile, "Eleazar, I didn't mean to offend you. I'm grateful that you confirmed my ability."

"I'm not offended, dear Bella. Just a little taken aback like Carlisle. In the end it doesn't matter how you found out, but I you use it in the future."

With these words directed at Bella, Eleazar turned to Mike.

"Same procedure, I presume?" Mike asked with a little smile stepping closer to Eleazar.

"Yes."

After the same amount of time it has taken him to confirm Bella's gift, he pulled away from Mike with a satisfied look on his face.

"So?" Mike curiously asked with the whole family eagerly following the conversation.

"You have retained the gift of persuasion from your mortal life. If I'm not mistaken you've always managed to persuade people to see things from your way in the end."

"Wow! I did-didn't really expect that." Mike stuttered.

"No. It would appear it was a surprise to most of your family as well. When you are mortal, you're not always aware of the traits that define your personality." Eleazar gently explained to Mike and firmly added upon seeing Edward's expression on his face, "And before you start sprouting accusations of Mike using his gift to get Bella as a mate. That is pure nonsense! I don't have Marcus' gift of seeing bonds between people, but I don't need it to see they are good for each other – and I've just met them."

With that statement Edward was effectively cut off from coming with any snide remarks that would upset Mike and her, Bella thought. She was gaining more respect for Eleazar for every minute he had been in the house and she really hoped their roads would cross again sometime in the past. Or the reason why Eleazar had stated what he did stemmed from the fact Mike was a newborn and easily could tear Edward to shreds or even worse killing him. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Jasper speak up.

"Actually, Eleazar. It's not far-fetched what you're saying. The only emotions I feel from the two are love, devotion, trust and more love." Jasper truthfully stated closing the subject.

Eleazar looked at his watch and Bella could almost see the wheels turning in his head when he tried to decide what to do now since his assignment was complete.

"I should go. Carmen's expecting me home."

He said a quick goodbye to all, wished Bella and Mike good luck in the year to come and arranged to meet up with Carlisle at a later time to discuss some things.

* * *

It was nearing what would have been dinner time if Bella still had been human when Aro showed up with his guards in tow.

No polite greeting were offered as Aro decided to cut to the chase, "Hello, You look even more magnificent than you did when you were human, my beautiful Bella."

Bella could feel Mike tighten his grip on her hand and she didn't have to be an Empath to figure out he was becoming possessive of her.

"Thank you, Aro." Bella icily replied.

"Ah. Yes. Wasn't really necessary, was it?" Carlisle impatiently asked.

"My dear friend. I was just complimenting her change." Aro acidly responded.

"Well, now you've seen that we've been changed." Bella coolly stated and continued, "Please leave before a disaster becomes a reality."

During their conversation Bella had noticed Jasper, Emmett and Edward moving closer to Mike to make it easier to restrain him if necessary. Rosalie and Alice were standing nearby ready to move in as well. At the same time Felix, Alec, Jane and Demetri had inched closer to Aro to protect him if Mike decided to lunge at him.

Aro didn't get to respond as Edward changed the subject when he said with a smug smile, "Oh yes. You were right about Bella's gift."

"I see. Did he have any gifts?" Aro asked wrinkling his nose while pointing at Mike.

"Persuasion." Mike proudly answered.

"I would ask to read your hands, Mike. But I already have a feeling it would be futile since Bella is shielding you. Am I right?" Aro bitterly inquired.

"Absolutely right." Bella stated with a false smile.

He nodded in response and added, "However I don't believe she is shielding the rest of you. She's not strong enough – yet – to do so."

All the Cullens exchanged looks before Edward stepped forward and extended his hand to Aro, but when Aro didn't immediately accept it, he pulled his invitation by withdrawing his hands.

"If you read my hand. You don't have to read the others since it was me who brought Bella and by proxy Mike into all this. Our family doesn't keep secrets. At least not major ones which could have an impact on our survival."

Edward managed to catch Bella's eyes and she slowly moved over to him. They silently formed a plan on how to keep the pack a secret from Aro and the Volturi. The only solution was Edward would indicate just before he reached the thoughts of the shape shifters from La Push – and Bella would get to test her shield for the first time. That would leave some blank spots, but hopefully Aro wouldn't notice. With their plan set in motion Edward once again offered Aro his hand which Aro accepted without throwing a tantrum.

Aro accepted Edward's hand and from him he learned everything from Bella's first meeting with the Cullens to Mike and hers transformation. He let go of Edward's hand after five minutes and looked satisfied of what he had seen. Bella looked at Edward who carefully picked through Aro's mind and gave her a curt nod in confirmation. Her shield had managed to bleach Edward's memories of the shape shifters in his mind.

"Yes. We should probably leave. We have done what we came for." Aro conceded returning to Bella's earlier request with a forced smile.

"That would be an excellent idea." Carlisle coldly replied, "You've seen Bella and Mike have been changed as we agreed. You've read Edward's hand. No more explanations are necessary!"

"Remember our agreement?" Aro icily questioned.

"Of course I do." Carlisle answered through gritted teeth.

"Good. We'll be back at the end of their newborn year to check up on you – and to hear how you are dividing your coven up."

Aro with the guards in tow breezed out of the room without a goodbye leaving the Cullens looking dumbfounded in the wake.


	31. Memories

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**December 25th 2006.**

It had been nearly three months since the transformation and it was going well for both Bella and Mike adapting to their new lifestyle. Mike had learned not to get messy when hunting and Bella had learned to play a little with her food before draining it dry. Bella's control of her bloodlust was still magnificent when she occasionally had touched base with lost hikers. Mike's control wasn't as great as Bella's however he hadn't drained any humans either. In all the previous three months had gone fairly well in Bella's opinion. Christmas this year was very different from the previous ones. They didn't eat human food anymore. Secondly they didn't bake cookies or thirdly the general Christmas mood had left Bella because of the first two reasons. Esme still decorated the house, they found a tree and they bought presents. Bella and Mike had been forced to let others buy their Christmas presents because Carlisle still considered them a risk to the mortal world. That hadn't been fun either, Bella bitterly thought. She was lying on the bed surfing on Internet while Mike was arranging their books on the shelf. She let her thoughts wander to the day before. However they both got Christmas presents from Forks in form of boxes containing some of their most prized possessions.

* * *

"What the hell is all this?" Emmett loudly cried while sitting three boxes down in the living room with a loud thump.

"That'll be my favorite items from my mortal life." Mike snapped and carefully picked up the boxes. He didn't want anything to happen to them.

"Real smooth, Emmett." Bella said shaking her head.

"How could I have known?"

"You could have looked at the labels before yelling." Bella simply stated.

With that she hurried after Mike. Everyone knew it was still a sore subject for Mike in regards to his parents. She knew how hard it was for him to accept he could never see his parents again even though he had gone out of his way to make excuses and telling her it didn't bother him one bit. She found him in their bedroom rummaging through one of the boxes.

"Is it okay if I come in?" Bella asked with a sad smile from the doorway.

Mike looked up and gestured with his hand and said, "It's a free country."

"Mike, I-I'm sorry for what just happened."

He genuinely looked surprised at her words, "Why are you sorry?"

"Well." She paused and entered the room, "I actually don't know. But I think you need to know that Emmett sometimes doesn't think before speaking. He's not always considering the consequences."

"I know." Mike whispered, "I'm not angry at him – per say. Just more the whole situation if I have to be honest."

"Honest?" she replied taken a little aback, "You always have to be honest with me. No more playing games, darling. I know you are hurting and it's not fair that I can't do anything making this transition easier for you."

Mike swallowed the lump in his throat, but didn't say anything in response instead he beckoned her to sit down next to him. She slowly made her way over to the bed and it would be a lie if she wasn't at least a little curious about what the boxes exactly contained. She peeked inside the box in front of her and found various items from his childhood. Stuffed animals and the like.

"Look!" Mike exclaimed breaking the silence.

"What's that?" Bella asked a little unsure.

"This?"

"Yes!"

"Can't you see it?"

"Ehh. Four green turtles with bandanas in different color sporting weapons?"

"It's a teenage mutant ninja turtles. They were my favorite toys when I was little." Mike huffed, "I can't believe you've never heard of them."

"Sorry?" Bella offered with a soft smile.

"We seriously have to do something about that!" He stated while scratching his head.

Bella did fare better when he showed her three stuffed animals in the form of Tom, Jerry and Winnie the Pooh or when he found his favorite movie. After an hour the first box was empty and they started on the second. That box contained among other things his CD's, some books and videogames. Nothing she hadn't seen before unlike the items in the first box since it essentially contained his room at the Newton residence.

"Oh. Angela managed to get my laptop! And my external hard disk." Mike happily cried.

"Aww. That's awesome!" She replied with a bright smile before adding with a frown, "How did she manage to pack these boxes for you? Won't you parents miss the items?"

"Actually, I don't think they'll miss my books, my videogames or all of the other stuff. The only thing they'll be missing is me." Mike answered with a sad smile.

"I understand."

"As for the pictures? I assume Angela have made copies."

"Yes. You're right."

Just as they were peeking in the third box there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!"

Emmett stood in the door fidgeting with his hands, not really knowing how to start. Mike didn't make it easier for him and after a while in uncomfortable silence Emmett finally fessed up, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Mike grinned, "No harm done!"

"Esme told me to tell you that if you want to make the room your own – let her know. She'll buy whatever you need to make it your own. As you know all couples – and Edward has a room in the house."

"We definitely will."

"By the way this arrived to you, Bella." Emmett said and set a box down on the floor.

"Thanks!"

"I'll let you get back to the trip down memory lane." Emmett winked at them and closed the door behind him.

"What's in the box?" Mike curiously asked.

"I guess it's my laptop, some books, my favorite blanket, some photos and maybe my High School Yearbook." Bella shrugged her shoulders, "Anyway let's see what's in your last box."

The third box contained most of his memories from Forks High: his varsity jacket, some trophies, year book, assignments and High School diploma."

"We should talk to Esme about redecorating." Bella pondered. Looking around the room.

It was too fluffy and too many pastel colors for her taste and she had a feeling Mike agreed with her on that.

"Yeah, we should. I suppose we could redecorate it after Christmas." Mike agreed.

"How would you like it?"

"I don't know. But it has to reflect both our personalities and the time we were born. It'll never be as cool as Jasper's though."

"Why not?"

"The American Civil War. The Confederate Army. Enough said!"

"Different time, different history. I think we can find our own American Civil War." Bella simply stated.

"How?"

"I don't know." She admitted, "But we'll figure it out."

"Warmer colors would be great." Mike thoughtfully said, "I'm not really digging the black and white theme going on in the rest of the house."

"I like black and white." She bluntly responded, but softened her words when she saw his horrified expression, "How about we make black one color and you get to decide the other?"

"That could work. How about going with a black and red theme? I always loved these colors together."

"Absolutely! That's genius, sweetheart. " Bella cried and teasingly added, Maybe you should become an interior designer like Esme."

"I take no offence, Bells!" Mike huffed, "I have great respect for Esme and her interior design. Wouldn't be bad to be compared to her…"

* * *

Bella's thoughts were interrupted when she felt Mike lie down next to her.

"What are you looking at?"

"Oh. Just some ideas for our room."

"Okay, I have to go hunt. I promised the guys a boys' night out."

"Oh joy!" Bella sarcastically replied.

"What?" Mike looked wide-eyed at her.

"I'm so not in the mood to hang out with the girls. But I suppose I should since you're having a boys' night out. I was actually looking forward to discuss ideas about the room with you or reading a book."

"I'm sorry?" He offered.

"Don't be. I'll survive!" Bella said turning her laptop off, "We should go downstairs."

"You better!" Mike winked at her, "Don't think I'll want to live this undead life without you."

Bella inched closer to him and kissed him deeply. As the kiss deepened she was forced to stand on her tiptoes. Pulling back from him she whispered, "You won't."


	32. Interlude II: Charlie

**********Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**September 15th 2006.**

The bell above the door rang when Charlie pushed it open. Normally he let his deputies take care of notifying the next of kin when a person had gone missing. However the circumstances had forced him to take the task of informing Mr. and Mrs. Newton about their only son hadn't been seen since before the weekend. His legs felt heavy when he slowly as neared the counter where Mrs. Newton was busy serving a costumer. It suited him fine that she didn't notice him immediately since he tried to keep his composure. Charlie was well aware of how bad he was at handling emotions and telling people bad things had happened. Actually it was a wonder he made it to Chief of Police in Forks! Nevertheless he always knew how to keep emotions and the like at bay by hiding behind his uniform and his status. People rarely questioned him about the decisions he made. But this was different and that's why he decided to handle the case himself since Bella was missing as well. A few seconds later the bell rang again telling him that the customer had left the store.

"What can I do for you, Chief Swan?" Mrs. Newton inquired in a chipper voice.

Charlie took a deep breath, "Is your husband here? I'm here on official police business."

"Yes. He's out back in the office." Mrs. Newton frowned while pointing to the door behind her and quickly added, "What's going on? We haven't reported any burglaries that I know off."

"It had nothing to do with that." Charlie simply stated, "I suggest you lock up because I need to talk to both of you."

"Yes. Of course." Mrs. Newton confused replied while reaching for the keys under the counter and quickly turned the open sign and locked the door. A few seconds later she led him to the office where Mr. Newton was sitting behind a computer.

"Darling, Chief Swan's here." Mrs. Newton said in a pitchy voice.

It actually made Charlie want to cover his ears. Though he had been raised a good boy and good boys' didn't do such things.

"Have a seat, Chief." Mr. Newton gestured to a chair across from his behind the desk.

Charlie dutifully sat down discretely drying his sweaty palms in his pants. Mrs. Newton took the chair next to him and both Newtons looked at him with expecting and curious eyes.

"So, what's going on?" Mr. Newton slowly said breaking the ice.

Charlie scratched his head while finding the exact right words to say, "I'm so-sorry to say that Mike along with Bella have been reported missing."

"Missing?" Mrs. Newton squeaked in the same pitchy voice.

Mr. Newton moved around the desk to put his arms around his wife.

"Yes. Missing." Charlie looked down as not to intrude on their moment.

"How? When?" Mr. Newton probed perplexed of the information.

If only he knew how, Charlie bitterly thought. He had been dreaded this all week since he had learned that his only daughter had transformed and become a vampire along with Mike. Billy had patiently explained everything about the Cullens and the Tribe's secret life.

Instead he said what he would have done in any other situation like this, "I got a phone call about yesterday from the Chief of Police in the town where Bella and Mike attended college. Some of their friends from college reported them missing when they didn't showed up for classes Thursday."

"My only boy!" Mrs. Newton wailed hiding her face with her hands.

Charlie swallowed the lump in his throat and once again looked away to deal with his own emotions. He wasn't made of steel like most people thought he was – in fact he could feel tears forming in his eyes and they were dangerous close to fall. Nevertheless he knew he was much better off than the Newtons next to him.

He was forced to look at Mr. Newton with tears slowly falling asked with a raspy voice, "What happened?"

"They had decided to go camping over the weekend since they don't have classes on Friday and Monday. The police found their camping gear this morning and Mike's car abandoned."

"My beautiful and lovely boy." Mrs. Newton continued to sob into her husband's chest.

"Do you expect to find them alive?" Mr. Newton somberly asked.

Charlie closed his eyes to gain time to come up with an appropriate answer since he really couldn't tell them that he knew that both Mike and his daughter were very much alive – or whatever they were. He let out an inaudible sigh and gravely answered, "I won't lie, and there isn't much change of finding them alive since it's been more than 48 hours since they were reported missing."

"Chief?"

"Yes?"

"Why did it take their friends so long to report them missing?"

"I honestly don't know. The police ran both Bella and Mike's names since they found all their ID's and cell phones in the camp. They went around the usual notification way when they found out she was my daughter."

"Thank you for telling us." Mr. Newton said with trembling lips.

"You're welcome. And since we're in the same boat…" Charlie trailed off thinking off how he had spoken to Bella on her birthday two days before. Another lie. The plans he had made for her birthday had been thrown in the trashcan when Billy told him that he couldn't see her in person for a least a year because she had to learn how to control her bloodlust or something like that. Even though he had been able to wish her a happy birthday through a telephone conversation – it wasn't what he wanted. He had already promised himself that next year he would take time off and spend the day with her – preferable alone.

"Same boat? How?" Mrs. Newton shrieked.

"Darling, Bella's missing too." Mr. Newton responded softly before Charlie could reply, "His mourning for Bella like we're mourning for Mike."

Charlie slowly nodded, "It's really the reason why I came myself instead of sending a couple of my deputies. It didn't feel right not to be the bringer of the bad news."

As silence fell upon the three in the office Charlie allowed himself to think of some of the things Billy had told him like how transforming into a vampire was an awful experience. He really wished he had been there to soothe her harrowing and excruciating pain when she was transformed. To his horror he could feel how he gradually lost his calm demeanor and felt tears running down his cheeks when they reached his mouth. Suddenly he felt a slender, but boney hand on top of his own and he didn't have to look up to know it was Mrs. Newton, who now had stopped wailing and silently subbed. He could feel her body shake with each sob.

After a while he regained his composure and decided it was time to leave before losing it again. He swiftly said goodbye to Mrs. Newton and let Mr. Newton walk him out the backdoor.

"Chief Swan?"

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry about how my wife reacted to the news of their disappearance."

Once again he had to tell himself that he had it far easier than the Newtons! He had repeated this sentiment to himself multiply times since the conversation with Billy last Sunday. Nonetheless he had almost kept his poise in front of the others. It wasn't really a surprise that Mrs. Newton had forgot about his loss as well. She had always been a self-centered, a self-righteous attitude and a gossiper to boot. It was an understatement to say Charlie liked her, but he had learned to tolerate her over the years. And it had especially become important when Bella and Mike started going out. However he did appreciate that she had taken his hand – it had been a nice gesture, but it still didn't waver his mind about her.

"No harm done." Charlie awkwardly replied.

"I can't imagine going through something like this alone."

"I'm not." Charlie simply stated and didn't offer any explanations, "But thanks for your concern."

Charlie looked Mr. Newton in the eyes for the first time and both men had red and misty eyes because of their crying.

"Well, I'll let you know if or when they found their bodies – and how the case is going." Charlie offered with a sad smile.

Mr. Newton nodded with an equally sad smile.

Before turning around Charlie added, "in general."

"By the way. Mike sent us an e-mail on last Thursday – not yesterday – where he told us about his plans of going camping with Bella."

"Can you send the note to me?" Charlie surprised asked.

Mr. Newton nodded once again, "I'll send it when I get back."

* * *

When Charlie reached his police cruiser he found his police radio and while he waited for the response he let his thoughts wander again. He still couldn't wrap his mind of the mindboggling information he had received from Billy during the outing last Sunday. He felt remorse for lying to the Newtons because it wasn't a part of his job. He was trained to find the truth and hunt criminals not lying to people. Though he had already figured they wouldn't believe him even if he told them the truth. Billy had to call for Jake and Seth and asked them to transform into a wolf. He nearly had a heart attack, but it served its purpose – now he didn't doubt the supernatural world existed. Another thing that kept him from saying anything to Mike's parents were the fact how Billy had stressed and emphasized how important it was not to share any information to anyone beside Sue, Seth, Jake and himself.

The radio made a noise indicating his response had been heard and he quickly told them, that he would need some time alone before coming back to work. In reality he needed to see Sue and Billy to get the heartbreaking conversation with the Newtons off his chest.


	33. Another Visit From the Volturi

**************Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**August 27th 2007**

The pink skies going on orange indicated that dawn was coming. Bella looked up and sniffed the air. Ever since becoming a vampire almost a year ago all her senses had been enhanced. She ran a hand through her hair and heard something or someone approaching. Even though she could smell

"Bella!"

Bella whirled around and smiled when she saw Edward approaching. He had spent the last three month in Europe and was only returning because of the Volturi. True to Aro's words they were on their way to check up on Mike and her.

"We almost thought you didn't make it!" Bella happily said while allowing him to give her a hug.

It was just before dawn at it was pure coincidence Bella had run into him. She had told the family that she would go hunt and preferable alone. Around Christmas last year Carlisle deemed it was okay for her to hunt alone since she had a great control of her bloodlust. Mike followed her two month later and was now hunting alone once in a while as well. However most of the times they preferred to hunt together, but this particularly morning Bella wanted to be alone with her thoughts.

"Well, I did. Didn't I?" Edward replied with lopsided smile, "Out hunting?"

Bella smiling nodded and offered, "Have you hunted? There are some mountain lions around to the south."

"I guess, it wouldn't hurt." Edward answered while pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Let's go!"

With these words Bella took off running in the cool morning air. The sky was painted in pink, orange and red shades. She could feel when Edward ran past her – he was still very fast and her thoughts let to his time in Ireland. She had felt sadness when he had declared he wanted to go on an adventure – take a trip to Europe and visit some friends in Ireland. However she had completely understood his reasoning behind why he wanted to go. It couldn't be easy living in a house with three mated couples and with his first love and her new boyfriend. Edward was already drinking from a mountain lion when she arrived. She slowly sat down on a rock and patiently waited for him to finish up.

A short while later he joined her on the rock. They sat in silence for a while just enjoying the silence and Bella looked up at the sky.

"How was Ireland?" Bella curiously asked while biting her lower lip – a habit she had taken with her from former life to her undead one.

"It was…" Edward stumbled over his words and took a deep breathe, "It was great. I haven't felt this liberty in a long time."

"That's great, Edward." She softly replied.

"Yeah. It was – eh – very green!" Edward chuckled.

"There's a reason why it's called the emerald isle." Bella snorted and added, "So what's the Irish Coven like?"

"They are special in every way. It's hard to explain, but they are all stout Irishmen and they feed on humans." Edward explained. Upon seeing Bella's wide eyes he quickly added, "I didn't feed on humans! Look at my eyes, Bella."

She looked at his eyes and sure enough they were still a perfect shade of gold.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have doubted you."

"Do not fret, love. You had every right to do so." Edward waved off her apology and slightly changed the subject, "How's Mike?"

"Oh. Mike's fine. His out hunting – alone – I think…" Bella trailed off.

"You still like two peas in a pot?"

Bella chuckled, "Yeah. We have a hard time being apart. But we both agree that we need alone time. Otherwise we would go mad."

"I understand what you mean."

"Edward?"

"Yes?"

"Have you met someone?"

"Why do you ask?" Edward confused and flustered replied.

"You have this – I guess – glow? You could say – around you. I haven't seen this glow around you since we were together. And it reminds me of how I look at myself in the mirror."

"Ahh, well I suppose I could tell you…" Edward trailed off.

"You can tell me anything. I won't kiss and tell. You know that."

"Not even Mike?" Edward challenged.

"Well, I might tell him…" Bella went back on her promise a little and if she had been human, her face would have been a nice shade of red.

"Okay. Yes. I met someone." Edward slowly said with a giddy smile.

"I knew it!" Bella exclaimed and quickly added, "I'm so happy for you. Who is it?"

"Her name is Maggie. She is frozen at the age of 15 and she is a member of the Irish Coven. I'll go back to Ireland when this business with the Volturi is over."

Bella thoughtfully nodded with a playful smile on her lips and stated, "We really come a long way, haven't we?"

"Yes. We have, love. You know, I still love you, right?"

"Right?"

"I'm just not in love with you anymore."

"I know, honey. I understand what you mean. You're my first love and I'll always love you. But I'm not in love with you either. And I'm really happy for you. We both deserve happiness in our undead live."

"I agree."

The sun was almost up when Edward broke the silence, "Maybe we should head back?"

"Yeah." Bella conceded, "Esme has been so anxious about you not returning in time – and she has been cleaning the house over and over just to make time pass quicker.

Edward chuckled, "Let's go!"

* * *

Four hours later Bella and Mike were relaxing in their room. After the family had given Edward a proper welcome and had interrogated him about his time in Europe and he in turn had caught up to date with the progress Bella and Mike had made they had split up to spend some time alone or together – whichever they preferred before the Volturi would arrive.

Bella and Mike had decided to retreat to their room – their sanctuary. In this room they could almost be 100 percent themselves. The room had been redecorated the previous Christmas by Esme in close corporation with them. A black bed with ruby sheets were standing against the wall opposite the door, a black couch with red cushions were positioned next to the door leading off to the walk in closet, a desk were placed against some of the big windows with a red chair, a black bookcase containing Bella's books were situated next to the bed while some shelves contained some of Mike's most precious things from his human life like a photo album.

They were lying on the bed in silence and just enjoying being together when they were interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Mike yelled.

"The Volturi is five minutes away." Esme said peeking inside.

"Oh, we'll be there in a minute." Bella answered with a forced smiled.

Bella and Mike approached the living room where the rest of the Cullens were gathered.

* * *

The whole family tensed a bit when they heard a knock on the door. Bella was oddly calm about the whole situation in contrary to Mike who almost was shaking like a leaf in the fall. This was a big indicator of how nervous he was. Again Jasper utilized his powers to calm everyone down when Carlisle went to open the front door.

"Hello." Marcus politely said as he was escorted into the living room by Carlisle with some of the Volturi guard in tow.

Bella recognized the twins, Felix and Demetri - it was the same guard travelling with Marcus that Aro had been surrounded with almost a year ago. She felt a pang go through her body because she felt uneasy with the way Felix looked at her - almost like he wanted to devour her. He had subtly acted the same way when they had visited the last time, but no one had cared about it enough to make a point of it. However Bella felt Mike tensing next to her once again because of this. She squeezed his hand in reassurance which he reciprocated.

The rest of the family quietly responded to his greeting in various voices. Some more welcoming than others.

Marcus searched for Carlisle's eyes and inquired,"How are you dividing your family?"

Carlisle didn't get to answer his questions since Edward cut in and explained, "I'm leaving right after the meeting is over. I need to be on my own.

Marcus looked thoughtfully, but still wasn't satisfied since he had asked Carlisle and not Edward, and icily said, "And the rest of the family?"

Again much to Marcus' disdain it was Alice who answered, "I've had several visions of how we do it – and only one seems to work out in the end."

"I see…" he replied with a hint of arrogance – and a bit of gentleness in his voice and added, "Care to elaborate?"

"Well, I've seen Jasper and I going with Esme and Carlisle." Alice sadly explained.

A silence fell upon the room until Marcus cleared his throat and asked with a frown, "And the rest of the family?"

"Will be together." Carlisle shrugged.

"Okay….an–and where will you be residing after the split?"

"First Esme, Alice, Jasper and I are going to visit the Denali Coven – after that we're leaving for New York. I've secured a job in Ithaca at a hospital." Carlisle explained.

"What about the rest?" Marcus prodded while pointing to the doorway where Emmett and Rosalie stood and Bella and Mike, who were standing near the fireplace.

"Already taken care of." Alice replied in a surprisingly cheerful voice.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bella and Rosalie bewildered said at the same time.

With that question they beat Marcus to the punch and everyone looked at Alice.

"It means you're going to Iowa – and enroll at Iowa State University – or at least Bella and Mike will enroll."

"Are you serious?" Rosalie angrily growled, "What give you the right to decide what we want to do?"

Alice clearly looked taken aback at Rosalie's outburst, "I-We thought it would be best doing it this way."

"I don't like Iowa!" Rosalie continued, "I don't want to go!"

"Rosalie, you need to back off now!" Jasper crouched protectively in front of his mate.

Emmett narrowed his eyes on Jasper and swiftly moved to Rosalie's side, "Actually she's got a point. Who says Bella and Mike wants to go to ISU? Alice, you can't just take control of people and I highly doubt they'll let you or anyone for that matter boss them around!"

The Volturi guards tensed a little, but soon realized that Marcus wasn't in harm's way and backed down. They curiously looked on the brewing fight among the Cullens. Bella and Mike exchanged a look before Mike cleared his throat, "I would prefer going to Montana State University. They have a good engineering program and Bella have been researching their history program."

Esme as always tried to smooth things over, "I guess, you could go to Montana – we can make it happen even with such short notice. Will everyone be happy with this solution?"

Rosalie backed down and nodded. Esme has a stern look in her eyes when she looked at Emmett, Bella and Mike and they all agreed. They were off to Montana in a month while the other half were off to New York – and Edward was going back to Europe.

"Oh one last thing." Esme said in a stern voice, "Apologize to each other!"

They apologized to each other with sour and fake smiles gracing their faces.

"Well, then it's settled." Marcus interjected and added in a more friendly voice, "I believe you have another matter you need help with?"

"Ahh yes." Bella gently said.

"And?"

"We need to know if Bella and I are true mates since we are together as a couple."

Marcus slowly made his way to the couple and looked thoughtfully at them and everyone in the room could hear a pin drop. After what felt like an eternity Marcus finally answered the question, "It seems like your bond is strong – equally to the other couples in this room."

"In other words, we're mates." Mike concluded with a sly smile.

Marcus nodded in response and changed the subject, "I think we're done. Remember what Aro said?"

"Sorry?" Carlisle responded with a perplexed look on his face mirroring the rest of his family.

"By George!" Felix exclaimed, "You can't possible have forgotten the conditions Aro gave you."

Marcus rewarded Felix outspokenness with a stern look which immediately shut him up and softly said, "You have to stick to your animal diet – all of you. We wouldn't want another situation on hand where one of you slip up and change or tell another human. It's bad enough you've already told two humans."

The whole family nodded in agreement to this. With these words Marcus indicated his work was done and before any of the Cullens could say anything in return the front door shut behind him and the Volturi.


	34. The Last Night

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:  
**

* * *

**The night between September 7th and September 8th 2007**

"Emmett! Don't play with your food!" Rosalie exasperated yelled.

Bella and Mike shared a look and exchanged a smile. With her new hearing it was easy to hear albeit Mike and she was some miles west of where Rosalie and Emmett were hunting with Alice, Carlisle and Esme who Bella imagined were amused by the ordeal. They had all decided on going on one last hunt together before splitting up in the morning.

Bella wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and looked a little sad at the deer she had just drained. With the help of Mike she dug a hole and threw the carcass into it along with the animal he had drained.

On their way home they crossed paths with Jasper who was off on his own or had lost Alice. Bella didn't know.

"Hi guys. Had a good hunt?" Jasper greeted them smiling.

"Yeah, we had a great hunt!" Mile replied with a shrug.

"Have you finished hunting?" Bella broke the silence.

Jasper nodded, "Yeah."

"Oh where's Alice?" Mike suddenly asked.

"At home?" Jasper answered with a small smile, "At least I think so..."

They made their way back in silence.

* * *

They found the others talking outside the cabin.

"Oh Jasper, There you are." Alice said breathlessly and added, "I tried to find you, but couldn't."

"I'm sorry, darling" Jasper said and kissed the top of her head.

"So what are we doing now?" Rosalie prodded icily.

Alice looked hurt at her icy tone, but quickly composed herself and with a forced smile said, "Well, I thought we could reminiscence about our undead life together."

"Alice?"

"Yes, Edward?"

"Why don't we do something else?"

"Like what?"

If eyes could kill – Edward would definitely be dead now, Bella thought while furrowing her brows.

"Like…like watch a movie?" Edward hesitantly replied.

"I want to do what Edward suggested." Emmett enthustically said and for once he didn't receive a snide comment or a slap by Rosalie who nodded in agreement.

"What would you like to do?" Alice directed her question towards Mike, "My suggestion or Edward's?" She pointed a stiff finger at Edward.

"Actually I'm not going to pick sides. I might not freeze to death anymore, but I don't see why we can't reminiscence inside the house. After that we could watch a movie." Mike suggested.

"I think that's a great idea honey" Jasper said approving of Mike's suggestion and at the same time trying to convince his wife to let her stubbornness go – just for once.

Alice glared daggers at her husband and nobody was surprised when Jasper didn't cower in a corner. He had after all been a major in the Civil War and he wasn't one to back down or to be scared of a woman.

He just shook his head and softly said, "Think about it, darling."

Instead of answering him, Alice turned to look at Bella, "What do you want?"

Bella answered without missing a beat, "I stand by what Mike said. We can do both things. It's not necessary to choose one over the other – and I think Carlisle agrees with Mike and me."

Alice looked crestfallen as it was obvious she had thought Bella would have her back.

"Well, I see no point in reminiscence about anything out here. We have hunted and bonded during that." Carlisle trailed off.

"I think it's decided then? We are going inside." Esme continued where husband left off and added, "I'm sorry Alice, but I agree with the others."

Alice huffed and quickly left the group – probably to lick her wounds before meeting up with them at home. Jasper took off after her and didn't look back.

"She'll be fine." Carlisle softly said.

"She's hurt." Bella sadly said biting her lower lip.

"What do you mean?" Emmett asked with a frown.

"What she means is that the rift I created when convinced everyone to leave has never healed. Bella has made peace with you first, Emmett, later Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, to some extent with Rosalie and then me. Even though I didn't deserve it." Edward explained.

Mike continued, "Alice obviously has a hard time dealing with them not being best friends anymore and the fact Edward slowly has become close to Bella as friends whereas she probably feel that Bella is avoided her.

"I see." Emmett thoughtfully said.

"I just can see Alice as my best friend anymore." Bella miserably said and added, "Best friends just don't leave without a trace. She had a choice when Edward presented the idea of leaving. I understand that the only one who ever questioned Edward probably was Emmett. And besides just ask my mate of how I was like the months after you left. As for why Edward and me slowly are becoming friends again? I honestly don't know."

"You don't owe us any explanations, Bella." Rosalie stated.

Everyone looked dumbfounded at her.

"What? I've come to care for Bella because I know what she means to Emmett. I'm not a heartless bitch." Rosalie continued and added, "It's just a way to protect myself."

"Let's not ruin our last night together as a family." Esme cut in with a pleading look in her eyes.

"And I think we'll skip the part where we talk about our life together." Carlisle stated, "It will honestly do no good. There is still plenty of healing to do in the family and perhaps this separation will do us all good."

"Well, you tell Alice then." Emmett snorted, "She'll rip you apart and she'll feel like we all ganged up on her."

* * *

It was nearly five in the morning and two movies later when Edward looked at his watch and hesitantly said, "I have to leave now. My plane's leaving in two hours."

"Wait!" Alice jumped up.

"Yeah?"

"Where are you going to live when you return?" Alice's eyes lit up when she added, "I can't really see your decisions…Bella's shielding you – right?"

"Yes. You're right. Bella is shielding me because I'm not ready to tell any of you about my travels in Europe." Edward slowly said, "I've arranged to put my things in a storage facility in Missoula."

"So you're going to live with the others?" Alice asked a little hurt.

"Yes. If I return that is..." Edward trailed off.

"What do you mean if you return?" Esme anxiously prodded.

"Well, I'm keeping my options open."

"I think it's a good idea." Mike interjected, helping Edward a little, "Remember he's still searching for his mate. I completely understand why he wouldn't want to be around us until then. And I-"

"I agree with Mike." Bella cut him off, "It must be hard being the only one without a mate. Right Edward?"

Edward only nodded in response and suddenly the ground became very interesting. When he didn't answer Esme thoughtfully said, "I understand why you need to go."

"I understand your reasoning...and your decision." Rosalie softly said while Emmett nodded his head in agreement.

Carlisle cleared his throat and added, "I expect you to keep in touch via e-mail and Skype. Otherwise I want to wish you a safe trip."

With these words he hugged everyone with a promise of coming back when he had found what he was looking for.

* * *

******AN: Oh my, this chapter isn't what I wanted it to be. But I think it's time to hear what you have to say in the matter. It's not the best chapter I've written...I promise I'll try and make it up when I write the next chapter.**


	35. A Different House

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**September 8th 2007**

It was late afternoon when the four arrived in Missoula. Carlisle had made sure they had a place where they could retreat to when they weren't on campus. Bella and Mike had argued that it had to be accessibly to humans as well as vampires since they might need doing group assignments for their courses at University of Montana when Carlisle had showed them a house in the wilderness completely out of reach for humans. When Carlisle leaned that Emmett agreed with the two other he finally relented and they compromised on a beautiful house in the mountains.

Neither Bella nor Mike had seen the house in person since they'd been confined to the mountains of Alaska for the past year. The rest of the Cullens had made several trips to Missoula and Ithaca over the past six months to clean and redecorate both houses which Esme had taken to heart. She had been determined to make everyone feel at home and therefore spent most of her time planning and mapping out how to approach the projects. Immediately after stepping out of the car they looked at the house and became awestruck. Bella was sure the wide eyed look Mike had plastered across his face was mirrored in her own. She didn't believe any house could surpass the houses in Forks and Alaska, but this one surely did. It was a white two story building with a porch. Bella noticed it was smaller than the other two houses and she thought it was because it was only meant to house vampires until if and when Edward showed up with Maggie. She glanced around and found her and Emmett standing alone outside – Rosalie and Mike had apparently ventured inside with the first boxes. She had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't even notice her mate was gone. Another thing she noticed was how awestruck Emmett looked at the house.

"Haven't you seen it?" Bella teasingly asked quaking an eyebrow.

"Oh, yes I have. But it was three months ago." Emmett replied still in awe.

"I see…" Bella trailed off, picked up some boxes and hurried after her boyfriend.

* * *

The fact that the house was fairly small was something Bella appreciated – she'd always liked the modest surroundings she had grown up in. She looked around the hall and noticed that the whole ground floor was almost one as Esme had taken down all the doors separating the rooms and some of the walls which weren't holding the construction up. She assumed the room with the door was the bathroom – an unnecessary feature in a house full of vampires. However since they were adamant on keeping up the charade a bathroom was necessary. Instead of venturing into the open space in front of her she followed the noises coming from the first floor. She climbed the stairs and looked around and found three rooms. She could hear Mike bustling around in the room to her right and was on the edge of turning right when she looked at the box in her arms and it showed it to Emmett. Instead she turned left where she could hear Rosalie was busy unpacking and sighed. She gently knocked on the open door and got Rosalie's attention.

"This is a great house." Bella softly said while shifting the box in her arms.

"Yeah. It's great." Rosalie agreed and went back to sorting through some things.

"Where should I put this?" Bella a little uncertainly asked while tapping lightly on the box she was holding.

"You can place it on the bed." Rosalie answered and pointed to the bed.

Bella placed the box and left the room to see where Mike was. She found him in room across from Rosalie and Emmett's room.

"Hey sweetheart."

Mike turned around and smiled, "Hey babe. This is great – huh?"

"Yeah it looks promising." She agreed and continued, "Should go down and get some more boxes. I accidently took one of Emmett's."

Bella turned to leave, but before she could leave Mike said, "I need some time alone with you tonight. Do you want to explore the woods with me?"

"Yeah. I'd love to. I think they need some time to themselves as well." Bella thoughtfully replied while pointing to the room across from theirs.

"And besides I really need to talk to you about some stuff."

"About what?" Bella curiously inquired while picking up some books and placing them on the shelves.

"Not something I'm comfortable sharing with Emmett and Rosalie – at least not yet." Mike sadly answered and added, "You know vampire hearing…"

"I understand…" Bella trailed off and turned to leave.

* * *

Bella and Mike left Rosalie and Emmett at the house to go hunt and to explore their surroundings. The moon was almost full and thus it rays shone through the trees. They quickly found some deer and drained them dry. After burying the carcasses they found a clearing where they could talk without being disturbed.

"Honey, what's going on?"

"I want to buy shares in Newton's Olympic Outfitters." Mike stated.

"But you've never been interested in taking over the company." Bella confused stuttered.

"I know, babe. I-I just have this strange urge to do it. I think it has to do with severing the ties to them. I miss them – a lot." Mike thoughtfully said.

"How will you do it?"

"I actually talked to Angela about the idea. I just needed to get my thoughts out." Mike mumbled and looked apologetic at his girlfriend whose expression had stiffened.

"Tell me more, honey." Bella prodded a little miffed with the whole situation.

"Well, I've been doing some research and found out that Angela can buy – let's say 10 percent – and then I can buy them from her – of course to the appointed share prices."

"Is this even legal?" Bella asked with a frown.

"Yes. It is."

"Okay, if you can pull it off without revealing you're alive. I don't see the problem. You should talk to J. Jenks. You know the lawyer Jasper knows who forged our passports?"

"Yeah you're right!" Mike exclaimed and added, "Are you mad at me?"

"A little" Bella admitted, "But I'm carefully choosing my battles – and this is not one I'd pursue."

Mike wrapped her in a tight hug and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"I know you are." Bella whispered back.

"Want to go back?" Mike asked pulling back a little.

Bella shook her head, "No I'd like to stay. It's not like we need our beauty sleep."

Mike chuckled at her sentiment and drew her closer.

* * *

**AN: I don't know how shares work or if Mike can do what he want. Shares generally don't interest me - at all. I just needed it to shape the character of Mike a little. I know the chapter is a little short...**


	36. The First Day Part I

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**September 10th 2007**

Bella had just come home from her first class at University of Montana. It had been a harrowing day with people staring at her and even though she was a vampire she felt a fatigue washing over her. Therefore she was content with sitting alone on the roof and replaying the day's events. The classes had managed to keep her thoughts away from the argument she'd had with Mike. He had been keeping his distance to her since their argument and she didn't blame him one bit for it because deep inside she took all responsibility for it. Sometimes she forgot that he had to sever all the ties to his old life when he was turned. She'd have to talk to him later. She shook her head as if they would fall out of head and wrong her hands. Instead she let her thoughts wander to her fist class.

The auditorium was fairly small – she estimated the capacity to be around 50-75 and it was almost full. She looked around and spotted a seat at the back, which were almost empty. Gracefully she slid around the other students and found her desired seat. After she had unpacked her laptop and found her book she looked around. The atmosphere was full of excitement and people who got to know each other. She smiled to herself while thinking _this can only be good_. A glance at her watch told her it was almost time for the lecture to begin and she started rifling through the book she'd purchased, as it was the first book on the curriculum the professor had sent out. She was interrupted by someone clearing their throat.

Bella looked up from the book a little perplexed until she finally figured out where the voice came from.

"Huh? Would you mind repeating your question? ? I guess I zoned out?"

Even with her vampire hearing she'd managed not to hear the question. _Great Bella! Way to start your college career!_ Now she was happy she'd never flush again because she was sure if she'd been human her face would have been 10 shades of red and she'd stammer out an apology.

"I just asked if the seat was taken?" The guy replied while pointing to the empty seat next to her.

She shook her head and made a gesture for him to sit down.

"Thanks!" he gratefully said. "Oh, where's my manners? My name's Matt."

"Nice to meet you Matt. Yes. One would have thought your mother had taught you better." Bella smirked and added, "My name's Bella by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Bella." He said in a rushed voice since the professor had arrived.

The students immediately fell silent. Out of the corner of her eye Bella took in her new friend's appearance. He was far from ugly (not as good looking as Mike – obviously!) But he had been one of the first in line when God distributed looks. He had a defined jaw, high cheekbones, black hair and blue eyes. His clothes, shoes and messenger back looked expensive. When their eyes met she felt a jolt go through her body. Never in a million years had she expected to experience such a jolt by keeping eye contact with a guy. Suddenly she became hyper aware of his scent – and she noticed he smelled liked cinnamon and vanilla. _What an odd combination, but he smells delicious _she thought to herself before shaking her head trying to get it out of her head before she did something she would regret. She was the first to avert her eyes and focused on the professor. Once in a while she glanced sideways out of the corner of eyes. She could feel him scanning her like she'd just done with him and with that she was grateful she wore brown contacts. _Her golden eyes would be hard to explain!_

The lecture dragged on and she became more itchier for every second ticking by. She could feel that awful burning in her throat and listing to his heartbeat became a steady rhyme in her ears. She tried to take deep breathe and direct her focus to the professor and his lecture. _Oh God! I think he's my singer._ Bella felt a chill go down her spine when realizing what this meant. _Why haven't I drained him dry yet? This was mysterious to her – perhaps it had something to with her being general good at controlling her urges_. She didn't know, but she knew she was in trouble.

Finally the professor relinquished his hold on his students and called it a day. Bella sighed in relief while quickly gathering her things while her thoughts were racing a mile in a minute. She needed to get out. It was difficult since she had to maintain her human facade.

Five minutes later she was standing outside the auditorium taking deep breaths. She coached herself when doing her, 'in and out'. After a while she could think clearly again. It helped being outside and not in the close proximity as Matt. She'd never smelled anything so delicious in her entire undead life. Was he really her singer? She had been so sure when in class – now she was ready to dismiss it until she once again she was interrupted in her musings by Matt.

His scent hit her full force and his blood called to her. Now she wasn't in doubt any longer. She looked around trying to find an excuse to leave, but found none.

"You took off fairly quickly." He stated a little confused. "Never got around to say goodbye to you."

"I'm sorry." Bella offered with a forced smile. "But I need to go."

At that point she saw Emmett across from where they stood. Luckily he caught her eyes and perceived the pleading look she had in her eyes. Moments later he came to her rescue.

"Bells! Emmett bellowed getting everyone around attention.

"Emmett!" Bella squealed in delight and gave him a hug.

Momentarily she forgot about Matt until he cleared his throat.

"Emmett, this is Matt. I just met him before my first class. Bella nervously said, "- and Matt, this is Emmett, my brother."

The two shook hands and Matt noted, "You run the same temperatures – you're both cold."

Flabbergasted Bella and Emmett looked at him and Bella pulled herself together, "Ready to go, brother?"

Emmett nodded.

"See you tomorrow." Bella said with a small smile while keeping her urges at bay.

In reality she ditched Emmett with an apology of having to do something and left him. She knew he would be okay since he was going to the garage Rosalie had set up not wanting to go through college once again.

* * *

"Am I interrupting?"

For the second time that day Bella had been so lost in thoughts that she didn't hear someone approach.

"No you're not, honey." Bella softly replied.

"I'm sorry for keeping my distance to you for the past couple of days."

"Don't apologize." Bella stated while fidgeting with her necklace.

"Why not?"

"Because…" Bella trailed off and took a deep breath before continuing, "I need to be the one apologizing."

She could feel as he shifted his position next to her before asking, "Why do you feel the need to apologize?"

He looked sincerely confused.

My behavior when you told me about your plan to invest in Newton's Olympic Outfitters."

"I honestly don't follow you." Mike answered with a shrug.

"Okay, I'm not mad at you for wanting to invest in the shop – but the fact that you went to Angela and not me. But I've had time to think about and I've realized that you don't necessary have to tell me anything unless it's concerned us as a couple." Bella took a deep breath and looked down on her hands before she continued, "And I do understand that you had the rug pulled from under you and you have to give your parents up while I got to keep Charlie and Jake"

Mike's only response was, "Oh…"

"What do you mean with that?"

"Bella, I've known Angela longer than you – we might not have been close before we both became involved in all this." Mike trailed off and added, "I love you, Bella. I guess I just needed her perspective on things since she's keeping tabs on my parents for me. And yes it has been hard for me for the past year. But I survived."

They both chuckled at this before Mike elaborated, "I don't think I'd change anything if I could turn back time."

"So we're okay?"

Mike nodded

"Mike?"

"Yes?"

"I love you too." Bella softly said before leaned in for a kiss.

Breaking the kiss Mike studied her and noticed that she looked tired, "How was your day? You look tired – if that's even possible being a vampire and all."

"Well, I have to get used to people looking at me like I'm from outer space."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, Bells." Mike sympathetically offered.

"-And then something peculiar happened today." Bella thoughtfully said without taking further notice of what he'd just said.

"Peculiar?"

"I think I've met my singer." Bella blurted out without thinking.

"Your singer?" Mike asked his eyes becoming wider.

Bella nodded, but stayed silent.

"How?"

"In class. His scent smelled so good to me – I've never smelled anything so delicious before. His blood sang to me. I know it's weird as hell – and a little too much alike to how Edward met me…"

"Wait a minute, your singer is a guy." Mike interjected a little miffed.

"Jealous?" Bella quipped with a smirk.

"Always, but I know we're meant for the long haul." Mike winked at her.

She responded by jabbing him in the ribs with a smile.

"Anyway I need to figure out how I could sit next to him for two hours without draining him. I think I need to speak to Carlisle.

"That's a good idea." Mike replied in a serious tone. "How will you manage tomorrow?"

"The same way I did today. I don't think I'm going to drain him dry. If I wanted to do that – I'd probably already done it."

"You sure?"

"No" Bella trailed off taking his hand. "But since Edward was 100+ years before he met his singer and he didn't drain me dry – I know that Emmett drained his singer shortly after becoming a vampire. I felt a burning in my throat…I think it's different how much of a struggle it is to meet one's singer and how good control you have over your urges. Edward had learned control which is why he didn't drain me dry in that biology lesson. And they keep saying I have a unique control over my urges – and I've only been a vampire a little over a year."

"So you'll take a change?" Mike softly prodded.

"Yeah."

"Don't you think I should come with you? You know I can do some homework at the table outside the auditorium. That way I can interfere…" Mike trailed off.

"If you want to, I wouldn't say no." Bella simply responded.

They fell silent – just enjoying each other's company. Together they gazed on the mountains in silence until they heard car doors slam indicating Rosalie and Emmett was back.

* * *

**AN: This is an updated and improved version of the original chapter! Please forgive me for posting the other version first. I sincerely hope you'll take your time and reread it at some point.**


	37. The First Day Part II

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**September 10th 2007**

Bella and Mike barely touched the ground after jumping down from the roof before Emmett threw the first jab with his eyes glistering with playfulness.

"Oh my! There's the heart breaker!"

"Shut up, Emmett!" Bella scoffed. Inside she was mortified at his behavior. "It's not funny!"

"I think it is" he exclaimed which earned him a jab in the ribs from Rosalie.

"Auch! Rose, what was that for?"

She just rolled her eyes and decided not to respond her husband.

"No it's not." Bella interjected a little flustered. Once again she was happy that she couldn't blush.

"You looked cute together – though." Emmett continued on which once again earned him a jab on the arm – this time from Bella.

"That really hurt." Emmett pouted.

"Don't be such a baby!" Mike replied while fixing his eyes on Emmett. "If you continue I'll make sure you hurt for real."

"Awe, Little Mikey is jealous!" Emmett taunted him.

"Of course I'm jealous, but as I already told Bells…" He trailed off. "We're in for the long haul and I trust her judgment. And I love her."

Bella admired that her mate wasn't afraid to admit that he was jealous, but quickly shook her head and she could see Emmett thought Mike surely would take the bait. Now Emmett looked like a little boy whose favorite toys had been taken away from him.

"You're no fun!" Emmett complained. "Such a buzzkill." He muttered under his breath.

Bella chuckled when she heard this.

"About time someone could take him down a few notches." Rose commented which caused Emmett to give her death glare.

Rose shrugged while turning her back to the group and going inside. The others quickly followed her while continuing their playful banter. Bella started to think that the time was right to let Rose and Emmett in on what happened today and finally got their attention. With that she explained what happened today during her lecture and what Mike and she had discussed earlier. When she finished her story the room was dead silent. She looked nervously from one vampire to another while waiting for a response.

It was Rosalie who broke the silence first, "I must admit that I'm very surprised."

"Yes. Me too. This explains a lot." Emmett said in a serious voice.

"– But your plan seems reasonable." Rosalie. "Edward managed not to drain you dry – and we all know you have better control than him."

"Just be careful, sis." Emmett warned, "You know have I accidently drained my singer."

Bella nodded. "Of course I'll be careful."

"Have you talked to Carlisle?" Rose concerned asked.

Bella shook her head while biting her lip.

"You are going to call him, right?" Rose pushed.

"Yes. Of course I'm going to call him." Bella said a little indignantly.

"When?" Mike asked her.

"Now?" Bella let the question hang in the air as she found her cell phone. She pushed bottom 4 – the speed dial she had assigned Carlisle's number. She put it on speaker while waiting for him to pick up. She was a little nervous about telling the rest of the family about meeting her singer.

* * *

After they had finished their conversation with the other four, Emmett had commented that Carlisle had gotten more faith that they could deal with the situation by themselves. To top that the family had been very understanding for Bella predicament and she was kind of relived that Alice suddenly would be standing on her doorstep trying to take control of her life. Emmett and Mike were seated in front the TV playing a video game on the Playstation so she approached Rose, who was flipping through a magazine.

"Rose?"

Rosalie looked up at Bella with a small smile. "Yes?"

"Want to go hunting? Just the two of us…" Bella asked bracing herself for a rejection.

"I'd love to." Rose replied smiling while placing the magazine on the table.

They didn't need to notify neither Mike nor Emmett since they'd heard everything and unbeknownst to the ladies they shared a small smile.

* * *

They had just finished hunting and were now sitting on a rock in silence for some time. Bella deemed that Emmett was the crucial catalyst in her and Rose's changing relationship. When she'd been human Rose had seemed very intimidating in Bella's opinion – perhaps it was because Jasper and she were the ones who constantly kept their distance from her. Now they had started taking baby steps in the right direction in forming a real friendship. That Rose had accepted Bella's invitation to go hunting just the two of them was a great stepping stone as well.

"Hey Bella!" Rosalie yelled waving her hand in front of Bella.

Bella was pulled from her musings, "What?"

"Where did you go? I've tried getting your attention for some minutes now." Rose explained with furrowed brows.

"Oh I am sorry. I didn't mean to tune out."

"It's okay. You've got a lot on your mind." Rose softly replied. "Anyway, I need to ask you a question – and since the boys aren't here and we're far away from the house…"

"Shoot!" Bella said smiling wondering what Rose wanted to ask her.

"Is he cute?"

"Who?" Bella looked a little disoriented.

"Your singer." Rose elaborated. "Did he take your brain too?"

Bella shook her head. "But yeah – he's good looking and nice. I think…I think that I dazzled him."

Rose laughed so hard she doubled over and between giggles she managed to say. "Did you just say 'dazzle'?"

"Yeah I did. Why is there something wrong with the word?" Bella giggled. "Edward used to dazzle me too. Did you know that?"

Rose shook her head. "I've finally got something on him."

She sent Bella mischievously smile which Bella returned while shaking her head.

"By the way what's his name?" Rose curiously asked.

"Matt." Bella replied letting a hand go through her hair.

"Just Matt?"

"I'm sorry, Sherlock! I was busy not draining him." Bella sarcastically answered before adding, "I'm sure I'll find out what his full name is."

"I'm kind of curious. Maybe I should come with Mike tomorrow." Rose pondered out loud with a playful smile gracing her lips.

"Aren't you nosy?" Bella retorted while rolling her eyes. "But please do…maybe he'll be so intimidated by your beauty that he'll leave me alone."

"Yes. Maybe he will."

"I'm sure Emmett will be so happy with this development!"

"Mike's being a real trooper with this. Isn't he?" Rose asked getting serious again.

"Yes. He is…" Bella confirmed while she looked down at her feet. She felt bad for him, but once again she was happy that he knew that she loved him.

"I don't think Emmett would be that understanding…" Rose trailed off.

"I think you're right." Bella agreed."He'd probably fly off the handle and going for the kill..."

"Yeah. I think your assumption is about right." Rose responded with a sad smile.

"Well, it's getting late. Maybe we should go home?" Bella suggested breaking the suddenly awkwardness between them.

"Are you filled? Or do you need to hunt a little more?" Rose concerned asked.

"I'm full. It's going to be an interesting day tomorrow…" Now it was Bella's turn to trail off.

"Indeed it will be."


	38. Cinnamon & Vanilla

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:**

* * *

**September 11th 2007**

Bella crossed the parking lot in human pace, but even if she had been allowed to go by vampire speed she wouldn't have chosen it. She was more than nervous about seeing Matt again even though they were far from friends or even acquaintances. While walking through campus on her way to the classroom she had to endure the curious stares from other students as she passed by. Nervously she shifted her bag to a more comfortable position. She let her thoughts drift off once more because if she didn't know where the classroom was before entering campus, there was no doubt now. She could follow his scent like a beacon lightning up the dark which actually terrified her a bit. She finally understood how Edward must have felt when he was confronted with her in that biology lesson. All too soon she found his scent of cinnamon and vanilla hit her like a brick wall and she realized that she had arrived. She looked at her watch noticing she was almost right on time. She took a deep – unnecessary – breath and went inside. She quickly scanned the room and instantly their eyes connected. Once again she felt a jolt go through her body causing her to look down on her feet in a vain attempt getting her composure in order again. When she looked up again she found him beckoning her to come down and sit next to her. She weighed her options for a moment before deciding it would be impolite to decline his invitation and his pleading eyes penetrated her mind like only Mike had done before.

"Morning Bella!" he cheerfully greeted her.

"Good morning to you too." Bella replied trying to keep her cool. Deep inside she hoped he didn't notice how uncomfortable it was for her. Despite hunting the night before the burning in her throat was almost unbearable.

"What did you think about yesterday's lecture?"

Thankfully she was saved from answering his question as the professor arrived and she started to focus on him tuning Matt out as much as possible.

"May I have your attention, please?"

Everyone in the room quieted at once.

And he continued, "My name is Professor Morgan and I'm your primary teacher this year for this course. I'm sorry, I wasn't able to teach the first lecture this year." He softly said while writing his contact information on the smartboard.

"Please write this information down – and welcome to my course in English Literature 101."

This was about the last thing Bella heard as her focus point slipped. Her attempt to redirect her focus on what he said was to no avail because the only coherent thoughts in her mind were _boy, he smells good! I wonder if I'm the centre of the universe right now? No wonder Emmett drained his singer dry the first time he met her and how did Edward survive? _

Bella's train of thoughts were interrupted as she heard someone call her name. It took awhile for her to realize it was Professor Morgan.

"I'm sorry. Would you mind repeat your question? Sir." she stuttered.

_Apparently being a vampire didn't make her immune to stuttering _she regretfully thought.

"Certainly, Miss McCarthy – I said that I divided you into pairs for a presentation. As the lecture yesterday and today's topic was the medieval literature. Naturally you'll have to select a work written in this time period – preferable from England. And lastly your partner is Mr. Doyle."

Bella let out an inaudible sigh, _this was just fantastic!_ Turning her head towards Matt she noticed, that he had a look which probably mirrored her own. He looked like he had been struck by lightning which soon changed to a look like he was a kid in a candy store.

Soon after all the students were divided into pairs and professor Morgan called it a day and told them to e-mail him with information on the title of the selected piece of literature. Bella quickly said goodbye to Matt and left. On her way out to meet Mike and Rosalie she got time to reflect about how Matt's scent wasn't bothering her as much as it had done previously, maybe Edward's method of getting used to her scent worked – he had tried to spent as much time with her to get over his lust for her blood. She knew it was the right decision he made, but badly executed since she found spying, creeping in and out of windows and stalking repulsive actions. No she needed to be his friend – and how did people become friends? By spending time together and now she just had to figure out how to do it. Immediately she found Rosalie and Mike since people were eying them on distance like they eyed her. She swiftly made her way to the bench where they were sitting at human pace.

"Hey guys!"

"That went well, honey…" Mike started, but was cut off by Matt.

"Bella. You left so quickly we never found out when we should work on our project. How's your schedule looking?"

She swallowed before answering his question. "Tomorrow at the library around 10? Is it good?"

Bella noticed how he had ignored her two companions so far. His focus were entirely on her much to Mike's and her own annoyance.

"This is Rosalie my sister-in-law." Bella said gesturing towards the blonde woman. "And this is Mike, he's my boyfriend and Rosalie's brother." She pointed towards the blonde guy who's hand she took. "Guys, this is Matt Doyle from my English Literature Class."

Matt looked like a deer caught in the headlights clearly not expecting this revelation, but he managed to stutter, "Nice meeting you both."

Rosalie and Mike gave him a curt nod in response.

"But is tomorrow working for you?" Bella asked once more.

Matt simply nodded in confirmation and retreated rather quickly.

"You did great, babe." Mike said trying to comfort her.

"Yeah, you did." Rose agreed.

Bella silently nodded.

"Let's go home." Mike suggested.

Again Bella just nodded.

"Actually, could you drop me off at the garage?" Rose asked.

"Why?" Bella inquired a little confused.

"I think you needs some time to yourself right now. I'll be home in a couple of hours if you want to talk." Rose elaborated.

* * *

Save at home Bella retreated to her and Mike's room because she needed to be alone. Her loneliness didn't last long as she heard Mike approaching.

"Emmett shouldn't be home for another hour or so and as you know Rose is at the garage."

Bella turned away from the window with glazed eyes, but no tears were shed as she was unable to cry after becoming a vampire. Before Mike knew it she had launched herself into his arms and he held her tight as she dry sobbed.

"It really took a toll on you, didn't it?" He murmured placing a kiss on top of her head.

"Yeah." Bella sadly responded. "I don't know how I'm going to do this, Mike."

"Look at me." Mike pulled a little away from her and found her golden eyes. "You can do it, Bella. You're amazing – and I'm not just saying that because I'm your mate and boyfriend. But as the boy who loved you from the first moment I saw you at Forks High." He paused.

"You loved me for this long?" Bella asked a little overwhelmed.

"Yeah, I did. Jessica never really stood a chance." He chuckled. "But I might have given her a chance if I knew I'd lost you."

"Thankfully that didn't happen."

"I agree." Mike's simply responded. "Anyway if you feel insecure about becoming friends with him you could always change classes, right?"

"Perhaps…I could." Bella thoughtfully answered. "I think I'll try and test Emmett patience tomorrow because I'm going to ask him to tag along. He seems like the one Matt is the least terrified off…"

"Mm…I think it's a great idea, babe. Besides I have a meeting with J. Jenks tomorrow about the shares in Newton's Olympic Outfitters."

"You have? That's great. Fingers crossed it will work out." Bella happily said tenderly stroking his cheek.

"Angela is meeting me for 'lunch' in Seattle because she succeeded in getting some more stuff from my past without my parents knowledge."

"Is Jake coming as well?" Bella inquired still grateful that he hadn't let her go.

"Yeah, I think so." Mike answered feeling her need to be held a little tighter.

"Then maybe I should stop by after I'm finished with the project…" Bella trailed off.

"That would be awesome – a total surprise to both Angela and Jacob!"


	39. Electric Jolts

******Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Stephenie Meyer. This chapter has NOT been edited by my Beta. All grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, odd sentence structures or missing words are my own. Thank you so much for all your reviews! (:  
**

******AN: I'm sorry it took me this long to update the story, but real life sort of got in the way - again. I have a big assignment to finish for my class in Conflicts and Warfare in Ancient Greece. Yeah, it sounds boring - right? Well, it's very boring. I need to ace the class to move on with my dream of becoming a Historian. Yeah, that sounds boring as well *chuckles* I know, I hate when people uses more than one POV per chapter, but I needed to get inside both Bella and Matt's head. **

******Enough with my ramblings and on to the story. **

* * *

**September 12th 2007**

**BPOV**

Bella sighed heavily as she made her way to the living room where her computer was situated on the coffee table. A copy of "Le Morte d'Arthur" lay next to it. Matt and she had texted back and forth about what kind of piece of literature they should select – and the choice had fallen on Thomas Malory's epic about King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. Being a vampire also had its perks in this area as well since she no longer had to sleep at night she'd got all night to finish the whole book and make a proposal for the presentation trying to cut her meeting with Matt the day after as short as possible. If she'd been human she would only have read the extract of the epic they agreed on. She still had to persuade Emmett to come with her to the library and the mere thought of his response made her regret the decision. She glanced over her book and looked at Emmett who was playing some kind of video game. They were home alone since Mike was out hunting and Rosalie clocked in some extra hours at the garage. _Might as well get it_ _over with, _she thought.

"Emmett?" she sweetly asked peering over the book.

"Yeah?" Emmett answered without taking his eyes of the screen.

"I need you to do me a favor." She continued a little warily.

"What kind of favor?" he replied still not taking his eyes of the screen.

_Here goes nothing_, she thought to herself. "I need you to come with me tomorrow. I'm meeting Matt because we have a project."

"Where are you going to meet?" he curiously asked his eyes still fixed on the videogame.

"At the library…" Bella trailed off and braced herself for an outburst. And sure enough seconds later there was a huge thud when the controller landed on the floor.

Emmett turned around to look at her, "Would you mind repeating it, Sissy? I thought you said the library."

"Yes. You heard correctly. The reason I chose that place, is for one it's neutral ground for both Matt and me, two it's easier to get away if anything go bad and three it's public." Bella explained with a sigh.

"I'll think about it…" he trailed off.

"What is there to think about?" Bella pondered out loud.

"Libraries aren't really my thing. They are boring. Nothing to do there." he replied with a pout

"Emmett! You need to come!" Bella said while batting her eyelashes.

"Batting your pretty eyelashes won't help, sissy."

"Emmett, please. Just do it for me." Bella insisted with pleading eyes.

"What do I get in return?" Emmett asked with a grin plastered on his face.

Bella sighed exasperated, "I would've asked Rose or Mike. But I'm sure she's going to scare the crap out of him. And Mike can't make it – besides it's not the best solution brining my mate to this particular thing. You're my best option. And if you won't do it for me, then do it for the poor boy."

"Okay, sissy. I'll do it. But I still want something in return." Emmett answered while rolling his eyes.

"What do you want in return?" Bella sighed once again.

"I want to see you loosen up – you're way too serious at times. So we are going dancing next Saturday." Emmett grinned.

"Oh fine!" Bella consented with a heavy sigh. _Anything to get the goofball to go with me. If she had to endure her going dancing with him – so be it. _

Bella and Emmett went back to what they were doing before. She buried herself in the book and took notes.

* * *

**MPOV**

Matt woke up to beams of sunshine coming through the curtains. He looked around the room and saw a room in disarray. Clothes were haphazardly thrown unto the arm chair next to the window. Books were mounting on his desk fighting with the computer for space. Lastly he smelled the leftovers from yesterday evening when he had been too absorbed in "Le Morte d'Arthur" to make dinner in kitchenette his dorm room had instead he had opted to order a pizza. He sighed heavily and turned to look at the clock on the night stand. There were still at least two hours until he had to get up, once again he sighed. The butterflies in his stomach was something he had become accustomed to – ever since meeting the strikingly beautiful brunette in his English class – therefore it had been a blow when he found out her boyfriend looked as flawless as herself. He had hoped he would have a chance of asking her out, but now even that seemed impossible. He closed his eyes trying to escape the feelings and thoughts jumbled all together – to no avail. Whether he wanted it or not he was falling in love with her and he couldn't forget that strange feeling of how she looked at him – it was almost like she wanted to eat him. Matt shuddered at the thought and shook his head. That was ridiculously thinking that – and if he ever voiced it out loud to anyone they'd try and commit him to a mental institution – so he kept his feelings about Bella under wraps.

Half an hour later he woke when the alarm rang. He must have drifted off again in a dreamless sleep. He silently thanked God for that. He slowly got through his morning routine with the butterflies flapping more than ever in his stomach. He looked forward to spent a couple of hours with Bella although he had hoped she had wanted to meet somewhere else than the library and he hoped she would come alone. He really needed to sort out what had happened between them.

A while later he was on his way to the library with a cup of coffee in one hand, his bag slung over his shoulder which contained his laptop and the book and his cell phone in the other hand. He knew that he was running late and therefore he was out of breath when he reached the library. He immediately saw Bella waiting in the shades with the big guy – Emmett – he remembered. A little disappointed he approached them.

"Sorry I'm late."

"No worries." Bella replied with a shrug. "We just got here, you remember Emmett, my brother?"

He nodded and was sure he sported a crestfallen look on his face and immediately plastered a smile on his face before they noticed his slip up.

"Do you mind if Emmett is tagging along?"

Matt was lost in the inner turmoil he was subjected to over how gorgeous she looked and the fact she had a boyfriend, he didn't hear her the first time and only responded when she waved a perfect hand in front of his face.

"I zoned out…" Matt sheepishly answered.

"I figured." She snorted in response. "I just asked if you if you minded Emmett tagging along."

"Sure, no problem." He stammered while fidgeting a little with the almost empty cup of coffee.

"Why don't you finish that? And we'll go inside and secure us a place to sit."

Before he could reply she and her brother were gone. He leaned against the wall and drank the rest of his coffee while thinking of the peculiar things that had happened since meeting her for the umpteenth time. Shaking his head he spotted a trash can where he disposed of the now empty cup of coffee. With a heavy sigh he went inside.

He quickly found Bella in a secluded corner of the library. Books spread out on the table and her laptop in her lap.

"Where's your brother?" he curiously asked.

"Oh, he's over there." She answered while pointing to another table close to the one she had chosen.

"Why is he sitting over there?"

"Because he is not really into Thomas Malory." Bella explained in a strained voice.

"Neither am I." He confessed while reaching for some of the notes Bella had made. In the process of doing this action their hands touched each other. Like an electric current ran through both of their bodies they quickly withdrew their hands.

"Did you feel that?" Matt stuttered.

"I would lie, if I said I didn't." Bella bluntly stated.

"What was that?" He continued while staring wide-eyed at her.

Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Emmett had moved closer to them as if he was on standby to run an interference for whatever reason.

"I-I don't know..." she trailed off leaving his question hanging in the air.

Matt couldn't help to notice how cold her hand had felt against his skin. He searched for her eyes - and when his blue met her brown they locked eyes. Neither of them could look away and therefore they entered a staring contest.

"We should get started." Bella stated regaining her composure breaking eye contact five minutes later.

_Those five minutes had felt like eternity _he thought and nodded his head in agreement while breathing steadily in and out. And he dropped the subject of what the hell just happened. _It was obvious that something fishy was definitely going on and he vowed to find out what._ It was like a spell _- one day he's going about his routines and the next he falls head over heels in love with a girl._ He shook his head getting rid of his thoughts in the process and concentrated on the presentation avoiding psychical and eye contact with her.

* * *

**BPOV**

"You did good, Bells." Emmett said comforting Bella, while they walked out of the library. She looked very pale - even for a vampire.

"Yeah. I guess I did." She answered looking at her feet.

"He's falling for you." Emmett suddenly said.

Bella opened her mouth, but was cut off, "I might not have Edward's gift of reading minds, but it was so obvious even a blind man could see it. The way he looked at you is the way you used to look at Edward."

"Seriously?" she astounded replied while shuddering.

"Yeah, I'm serious. I don't think it can break your mating bond with Mike."

Bella shook her head and elaborated,"I guess it makes sense. I was his singer after all. And yes, we did feel electric jolts whenever we touched or locked eyes in the beginning before we got use to being around each other."

Emmett nodded thoughtfully in agreement and they fell silent. It wasn't a bad silence, just a comfortable silence that gave them the opportunity to ponder what had happened.

Emmett broke the silence when they reached the house, "What are you up to now?"

"Hunting." Bella simply replied.

"And after?"

"Meeting Mike. He's a little on edge with the whole singer situation." Bella explained.

"I can understand that…" Emmett trailed off.

They parted ways when inside the house. Bella went to the room she shared with Mike and Emmett went to the living room. She unceremoniously dumped her laptop and books on the bed before jumping out of the window. She could feel the burning sensation in her throat and she was happy to go hunt and she was looking forward to see Angela and Jake. It was a long time she had seen them in person. But the main thing that kept her from going of the rails was Mike.


	40. Not a chapter :(

I'm so sorry for not updating! I promise it'll get better, but my exams are killing me – literary right now.

I just want to let you know that I haven't given up finishing the story – because I will finish it – and that's a promise! I know how disappointed I am when I find a good story and then the updates just stops. That will NOT happen. I just need to get my exams done before I can find the time to write the next chapter. However do not fret, I have the basic outline for the next couple of chapters written and safely tucked away on my laptop.

And finally I want to thank everyone who left me a review :) It's nice getting those – they keep me going. Although I'm not an author who want a specific amounts of reviews before I post the next chapter - I don't like when people take me hostage and...Okay I'll stop my rant now before it develops into something not so nice. I'm just happy whenever you take the time and hit the "review" button :) Oh. I almost forgot, thank you for adding my story to your alerts and favorites!

Love,

Snowdrop2018.

Ps. This will be deleted when the next chapter is written.


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